


A Magical Solution to the Einstein Field Equations

by shinyopals



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Awesome Jane Foster, BAMF Jane Foster, F/M, Gen, Jane Foster Loves Science, Jane gets superpowers like a boss, Loki as Odin is a little shit, POV Jane Foster, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Thor Is Not Stupid, Thor is a Damsel in Distress, bite me marvel, ignores the hell out of Thor 3 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-16
Packaged: 2018-09-14 06:24:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 56,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9165874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinyopals/pseuds/shinyopals
Summary: Jane Foster has got enough on her plate, what with being a full time researcher, giving lectures, applying for grants, writing books, and consulting for Stark Industries. When Thor drops off the face of the universe and leaves her on Earth with no clues as to where he is, she doesn’t know what to do or how to find him.Then an attack on Stark Industries changes everything, and she finds herself getting thrown into a life that she’s previously only watched from the sidelines, and where getting punched through a wall is suddenly just an average day of the week.





	1. Quantum Mechanics of Fundamental Systems

**Author's Note:**

> This is my headcanon alternative to all the nonsense about Thor 3 that Marvel appears to be doing.
> 
> Thanks so much to the wonderful [Niobium](http://archiveofourown.org/users/niobium) for the huge amount of time she put in beta-reading.

‘And that is the energy differential between the quantum vacuum and the F.E.R.-space,’ said Stark, dropping his dry-erase marker and grinning smugly.

‘See, when you said let’s-go-visit-Jane, I didn’t realise you meant interrupt her and then try and do her work for her,’ said Rhodey. He took a slurp of his coffee and cocked an eyebrow inquiringly at Jane.

‘I did not- she _asked_ for my help,’ Tony objected.

Jane snorted and inspected the board. ‘I said the math was being annoying. I didn’t say I needed you to fix it,’ she said. She chewed on the end of her own pen, following through the equations. ‘The logic is sound but-’

‘But what?’

‘But it’s wrong.’

‘No it’s not.’

‘Yes it is,’ said Jane.

‘Point to me where it’s wrong,’ Tony demanded, moving next to her and following her eyes as Rhodey snickered and also moved closer. He was walking quite normally on his prosthetics these days, Jane noticed, and he’d been using his cane less and less.

‘I don’t know,’ she admitted. ‘I just know it’s wrong.’

‘How can you possibly know that? The math holds up.’

‘Yes, but the end result… it’s just… _wrong_.’ Jane glared at the final few lines of scribbles. ‘Look, I want it to be right. I would love for you to have swooped in here and fixed this stupid stuff. It’s been bugging me for an hour. But the result you’ve got just doesn’t make sense.’

‘It made enough sense when you were explaining it ten minutes ago,’ said Tony. ‘This is your logic, remember. I just added a further level. Rhodey? Any thoughts?’

Rhodey tilted his head to the side and took another drink. ‘Not my field, but I can’t see any errors.‘

‘See!’ said Tony, folding his arms.

Jane sighed, reached for her long-since-cold coffee, and followed the logic through in her mind. It was her methodology. It _should_ make sense. It did make sense. Except for the result, which wasn’t right.

‘Look, I’ve been studying this forever,’ she said. ‘I don’t know why it’s wrong, but I know the calculations don’t _work_.’

‘And this isn’t just your confirmation bias?’

‘No,’ said Jane.

Tony sighed. ‘All right, fine,’ he said. ‘But I’m not staying here all afternoon to help you.’

 _Good,_ thought Jane. Not that she didn’t appreciate the help, or even the company, for a short amount of time. There were just only about three people whose companionship didn’t start to grate on her after a while, and one was on a lecture tour, one was on a lunch date, and one was somewhere in space. Tony Stark was not one of them.

‘I think it is because you added one during the acceleration calculation eight lines from the last. You should have subtracted it instead.’ The voice came from behind them.

The suggestion was accurate, Jane saw that straight away. Tony’s unintelligible mutter of exclamation and his reaching for the eraser only confirmed it. But she suddenly didn’t care because the speaker’s voice was perfectly, wonderfully familiar to her. She whirled around, splattering cold coffee on her shirt as she did. 

Thor. Thor who was meant to be in space, but who evidently wasn’t, and who was grinning openly at the shocked faces greeting him (and Tony’s grumpy mutterings about how many PhDs they had between the three of them and they’d somehow missed an arithmetic error). When his eyes found Jane’s properly though, his smile softened. She made a high-pitched noise that she just _knew_ she was going to get shit for later, shoved her coffee cup back on the table, and flung herself at him, jumping into arms that opened to receive her.

He kissed her, and, because he was great at not caring about what any of the others thought, hoisted her up, one hand on her butt and the other around her waist, all without breaking lip contact. Jane went with it because it had been over a year and she wanted to cry and laugh and pull his stupid armour off there and then and also just kiss him forever.

‘You two are worse than any high-schoolers,’ said Rhodey.

‘We’ll, er, just be going,’ said Tony. ‘Or you guys could, you know, go to a bedroom and not defile my labs and ruin Friday’s innocence.’

Jane could hear movement from behind her and she waved vaguely, hoping they got the message she was trying to convey which was ‘thanks and get the hell out of here’.

Thor, unfortunately, chose that moment to lean back. His cheeks were faintly pink and his pupils were dark, and when Jane pouted he followed her lips with his eyes. But before she could kiss him again he turned to Tony and Rhodey, already most of the way out of the lab.

‘My friends, I have news to share,’ he said. ‘It is grave indeed.’

Jane did her best to suppress a sigh. Of course Thor was back with Avengers stuff. Of course he was. This was his life the same way the calculation he’d corrected was hers. She’d accepted that long ago. She just wished… well, she wished a lot of things. 

She’d never felt the lack of someone so deeply in her bones before she’d met Thor. Every time he left it was like an ache. Suddenly each raindrop or clap of thunder seemed to hail a return that never was, her hopes being dashed in the quiet that followed. She wondered how long they would do this. Time went faster the older someone was, and Thor was the most extreme example she knew. A year to him was nothing. A year to her however, had seen her win a Nobel prize, publish a book, buy a house, and find her first grey hair. It was a long time. 

Tony sighed. ‘I’ll assemble the gang,’ he said. ‘Just to warn you though, buddy, things have… changed.’

Thor lowered Jane to the ground at last as Tony and Rhodey left, Tony giving Friday instructions as he did.

‘I missed you,’ she said. ‘Can you stay? After this?’

‘For a little while the Nine Realms can wait,’ he said. He reached up to touch her cheek and she leaned forcefully into his hand. ‘I missed you too, Beloved,’ he said. ‘Not a day passed when I did not think of you.’

She reached up to clutch his hand to her, just watching him, loving the sight of him and wishing for more.

‘Come on,’ she said at last, reluctantly breaking the silence. ‘Let’s go talk to the others. Quickly if possible. Then I’ll show you my bedroom in the compound.’ He grinned. ‘I hope you stopped at the space-seven-eleven by the way, because I’m pretty sure I don’t have any condoms, and you’re going to be the one who asks Tony for some if not.’ Thor gave the shrug of someone who would absolutely be prepared to do that, which was a relief.

At the sight of the Avengers as they were, his smile became a frown. Tony, Rhodey and Vision sat at the conference table. T’Challa’s face appeared on a screen.

‘Thor, this is King T’Challa of Wakanda,’ said Tony. 

Thor bowed. ‘Your Majesty,’ he greeted solemnly. Jane blinked. She’d never seen him being quite so deferential, even with his father, but she guessed T’Challa was an unknown to him. 

‘Prince Thor,’ greeted T’Challa. ‘Please feel no need for the formality. I am here, like you, as an Avenger. Also like you, one who has many other responsibilities.’

Thor gave a nod. ‘It is an honour to meet you,’ he said. ‘I hope that you, too, will not stand on ceremony.’

‘What… is happening there? Can I see what’s happening?’ The voice was young and came from the phone. It took Jane a moment to place it until she remembered the kid Tony picked up occasionally. The one who pretended to be a spider.

‘And this is Peter. He’s sort of… a part-timer. In between classes.’ Tony coughed. ‘High school classes,’ he added, looking slightly abashed. 

Thor frowned. ‘What of Steve, Natasha and Sam Wilson? Or for that matter Wanda Maximoff? I expected to see them here. I understood you yourself had stepped away, Tony.’

‘Uh… it’s complicated.’

‘The UN got scared, decided to regulate the Avengers, Steve and Tony had a massive, public falling out instead of talking to each other like adults. Steve and the others are now on the run from the government and the official Avengers are technically UN property,’ summarised Jane. ‘Not that complicated.’

Thor blinked.

‘Thanks Jane,’ said Tony through gritted teeth.

‘I hope that this disagreement is not insurmountable,’ said Thor evenly, not quite keeping the disapproval out of his voice. ‘For we may find we badly need our friends before long. Will our discussion here be reported to your governments?’

‘Not… exactly,’ said Tony. ‘We’re all just here, as friends, to hear what our good friend Thor has to say. If it needs to, we’ll let someone know.’

‘Um, can we hurry up?’ said Peter. ‘Only, my lunch break’s over soon and I’ve got to get to AP Bio.’

Tony gave a melodramatic sigh and eye roll, as though he weren’t the one who’d decided a high school student was best placed to be involved in the Avengers. 

‘The information I have is still incomplete,’ said Thor before any further bickering could begin, ‘but it concerns Midgard, and it will concern you, Vision.’ And then he told them of an alien fanatic who’d acquired just one Infinity Stone and nearly destroyed a planet; of the rumours that a Midgardian was involved in stopping him; and of Thanos, a tyrant who wished to unite all the stones.

‘So you believe he will come here?’ said Vision.

‘For you,’ said Thor simply. ‘He cannot unite the stones while you live.’

‘Perhaps I should… go.’ Vision seemed to consider the idea.

‘To where?’ said Tony. ‘You were born- created- whatever here on Earth. You’re alive. You deserve to live, and live where you want.’ Vision gave a slight smile at Tony’s defense. 

‘It is possible he would come anyway,’ said Thor. ‘It seems that it was he who first supplied Loki with the Mind Stone, and he who sent Loki to Midgard in search of the Tesseract. He may desire vengeance for your victory.’

‘Oh, great,’ said Tony sarcastically. ‘Thanks again to your brother.’

Jane reached out her hand to take Thor’s and he sent her a small, tight smile.

‘Uh, so, I’ve got to go to class,’ said Peter. ‘But thanks for letting me know there’s a probably alien overlord coming to squash our planet. That will help me with my finals.’

‘Study hard, kid,’ said Tony.

‘We’ll let you know if you miss anything,’ said Rhodey. ‘Don’t worry. Forewarned is forearmed, after all.’

‘What do we know of the location of the stones?’ asked T’Challa, once Peter had hung up. ‘Vision holds one, but you said there are six?’

‘The Tesseract is on Asgard and the Power Stone is held on the world of Xandar. I believe both are as safe as they can be,’ said Thor. ‘If one is stolen the other might be used to fight, after all.’

‘Isn’t the Aether on Asgard too?’ said Jane. Thor hesitated, which made the slight anxiety that thoughts of the Aether always brought curdle in her stomach. ‘Thor.’

‘It was too dangerous to have two stored on Asgard,’ said Thor. ‘My father sent the Aether to be protected by… another. In the fight over the Power Stone, its containment was broken. Its current location is unknown.’

‘Oh,’ said Jane, tightly. She clenched her free hand, looking down at it, remembering the redness and the darkness and the heat running through her veins, making her feel lighter somehow, less of a person. As though she might burn up at any moment. But before she did, it had clasped at her heart and soul until she’d _wanted_ it to kill her. It hadn’t wanted that, though. She shuddered. Thor’s hand in hers tightened and forced her back to then and there and a table of concerned looking Avengers. ‘It’s fine. I’m fine. Sorry, just… went elsewhere.’

The concern on Thor’s face did not abate, but he allowed her to leave it there, turning back to the table to discuss his hunt for the remaining two stones. Those had not resurfaced in modern times (by which he meant the last millennium) so his hunt was based off myths and stories.

Jane settled back and counted her breathing against the ticking off the clock, listening to and watching Thor. Sometimes, when he was gone, she almost convinced herself he was a dream she had. A long, vivid, beautiful dream. When he was there, though, such a thought would be impossible. For an alien myth discussing aliens myths, he seemed to her to be more grounded in the world that she ever had been. His voice never wavered despite the doom he’d prophesied and the monstrous difficulty of the task he’d set himself. His physical presence in the room, always slightly _different_ in a way she couldn’t categorise, seemed to almost exude a warmth that never failed to calm her.

‘So you’re going back into space, and we’ve got to decide whether or not to tell the UN that the planet might be doomed,’ said Tony at last.

‘We should probably mention it,’ said Rhodey. ‘Just, you know, casually drop it into conversation with Ross sometime. See how he reacts.’ Tony grinned.

‘It might cause difficulty for Vision if they perceive the threat is coming for him,’ said T’Challa. He pursed his lips before turning to address Vision directly. ‘Perhaps you should spend some time abroad and out of harm’s way.’

‘It seems wherever I go I would risk people’s lives,’ said Vision uncomfortably.

‘That may be the case,’ said T’Challa, ‘but there is nothing we can do about that. If the United Nations acted disproportionately to your existence, we could be in even more danger without your help. If you can find somewhere a little more under the radar, perhaps things would be safer for you/’

‘Maybe Helen’ll put you up for a bit?’ suggested Jane. 

Vision gave a small smile. ‘It has been a while since I saw Helen,’ he said quietly.

‘Or we did once-upon-a-time know some people who were good at hiding,’ pointed out Rhodey. ‘So good that nobody knows where they are. I’m sure they’d help.’

‘I do not know that I have been forgiven,’ said Vision. 

‘I’m sure they’d help anyway,’ said Rhodey.

‘This does leave the Avengers a bit thin on the ground here,’ pointed out Tony.

‘You should troll some more high schools,’ said Jane. ‘Isn’t that how you recruit these days?’ She got to her feet before Tony could object. ‘Come on, Thor.’

Thor followed her instantly, unembarrassed in the face of Tony’s leering.

Jane kissed him a couple of times in the corridors of the facility before shoving him playfully into her bedroom. ‘Just going to raid Darcy’s room before you have to risk asking Tony. Be back in a few.’

In Darcy’s room she ran a brush through her hair, reapplied deodorant, and hunted in Darcy’s drawers until she found some condoms. Then she texted her friend: “ _Thor’s back. Took your condoms. Can you pick some more up on your way back?_ ” Darcy’s near-instantaneous reply was filthy, but Jane just grinned and set her phone to silent.

Sparing a last glance at herself in Darcy’s mirror - the coffee-stained shirt, several-days-overdue-a-wash bra, and unshaven legs were regrettable, but that sort of thing had never bothered Thor before - she hoiked up her bra straps, undid her top button, and hurried back to her room where Thor was waiting.

He’d already vanished most of his armour and pulled off the undershirt he always wore. Jane had a few moments to appreciate the view as he approached her with an unhurried confidence. Jane, however, didn’t share his lack of urgency, a tight lump her chest forming when she remembered he would be gone in just a few days. 

She pulled him down to kiss her, grasping tightly at his hair, insisting he followed her direction, and receiving a low noise of approval in return for her efforts. She pushed him back towards her bed, fumbling with the fastenings on his pants. He went, compliant even as she pushed him down onto his back, tugging at her shirt buttons now as she went over with him.

A rising sense of need within her, Jane hastily pulled at her own clothes, forcing her shirt over her head and pushing down her jeans even as she was trying to kick her shoes off.

‘Jane,’ he said softly. ‘I will be here long enough for-’

‘I know. I missed you. I love you.’

‘I love you too,’ he replied. He smiled up at her, leaning up on his elbows as he watched her scramble back off the bed to kick off the last of her jeans and socks. ‘You are beautiful. Moreso even than the dreams I’ve had of this moment.’

She felt her cheeks warm, and even then thought it was ridiculous that he could still make her blush when he looked at her like that. It had been a while though.

He held out his arms, taking her hands and kissing the fingertips before he tugging her gently towards him. Jane went, needing to be against his skin, needing his hands and his mouth on her, holding her to that moment and letting her forget the rest of the universe. 

Thor held her tightly - almost too tightly - and she thought he must have felt something of that too. Despite his offer to slow things, he met her urgent pace easily: kissing her hard, sliding hands across her skin, pulling her hips against his so she could feel how ready he was. In his hands, some of the tightness within her started to crumble. It would be all right. He was there now, with her.

‘Jane, I love you,’ he said again, pressing his nose against hers. His breaths were heavy against her face and she smiled. She liked that she could make a thunder god gasp for breath, and she rocked her hips against his because she knew he would again. ‘Jane,’ he sighed against her.

She went for his pants - already loose around his hips - and this time he helped her out.


	2. The Myth of Mars and Venus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane Foster has got enough on her plate, what with being a full time researcher, giving lectures, applying for grants, writing books, and consulting for Stark Industries. When Thor drops off the face of the universe and leaves her on Earth with no clues as to where he is, she doesn’t know what to do or how to find him.
> 
> Then an attack on Stark Industries changes everything, and she finds herself getting thrown into a life that she’s previously only watched from the sidelines, and where getting punched through a wall is suddenly just an average day of the week.

Later, Thor lay sleeping beside her, still stark naked. He’d leaned into her as he slept, resting against her and with one hand thrown over her hips, beard tickling her arm as he breathed. With her free hand, Jane traced patterns up his arm, her mind largely unfocused on anything except the warmth and the happy, satisfied tiredness she felt. Whenever her brain tried to remind her of anything else, she looked down at Thor and considered a few elaborate fantasies for when he was awake.

At first he only looked young and untroubled in his sleep, but eventually Jane became aware of a sudden stiffness in his pose. Moving her free hand to caress his face, she found features tense and frowning.

‘Thor.’ She nudged him. She didn’t think he’d had much sleep lately but she knew if he was dreaming he’d rather be awake.

As ever, he woke quickly, lurching slightly and half sitting up. ‘Jane, are you-? Oh.’ He seemed to realise she’d not woken him on her own behalf.

‘You didn’t look happy,’ she said.

He sighed and lay back down on the bed, leaning into her. 

‘You’ve got a lot to worry about,’ she said, pulling him closer, cradling his head against her chest. He couldn’t stay like that for long because it got uncomfortable for her, but she knew he liked to be held at moments like this. She wound her fingers through his hair and stroked his beard. ‘Want to talk?’

‘It is not the matters we discussed earlier,’ he said. ‘It is about Asgard, and not Midgard.’

‘Mmm?’ When he didn’t speak, she tugged his earlobe gently. ‘Thor?’

‘I do not wish to overburden you, when I have already brought nothing but tales of future trouble.’

‘That’s totally an Avengers problem, not mine,’ said Jane with a lightness she didn’t really feel. Thor at least let out a small chuckle. ‘Tell me?’

‘Something is wrong on Asgard,’ he said at last.

‘Yeah?’

‘I know almost nothing more than that,’ he said. ‘The visions I saw through Wanda Maximoff and the Water of Sight told me as much, but now whenever I am on Asgard I can feel it in my heart. My friends do not see it. My _father_ does not see it, and nor for that matter does Heimdall. They think that my visions foresaw Thanos’s hunt, and that we must build our armies to protect the Tesseract.’

‘But you think there’s something else wrong? Are you sure?’

‘As sure as you were that there was something wrong with Tony’s equations earlier,’ he countered.

Jane laughed. ‘Fair enough,’ she said. ‘Do you know what you’re going to do about it?’

‘I hope to make my father see reason,’ said Thor. ‘He knows Asgard as I do. Moreso, even. He must be able to sense as I do that something is wrong.’

‘Well, don’t piss him off too much,’ said Jane. Or you might end up exiled to Earth again.’

She felt him smile, then press a kiss between her breasts. ‘A thoroughly enticing thought,’ he said. Jane tightened her grip on him momentarily, half of her stupidly wishing the Bifrost would suddenly break. Thor nuzzled her collarbone more deliberately, shifting in her arms to take his weight off her and then moving up to kiss her neck. 

Jane murmured appreciatively and stroked his hair. ‘I thought you were tired,’ she said.

‘Not that tired,’ he said. She could tell he was lying, but she didn’t care. They could sleep later. Now though, it was time for them.

~*~

She and Thor didn’t emerge from her room until the early evening, to find Darcy back from town, watching Netflix. When she saw Thor, she bounced to her feet and greeted him with a huge hug.

‘Did you miss me?’ she asked, grinning.

‘Of course,’ said Thor, smiling in return, as Jane laughed.

‘How long are you staying?’ asked Darcy. 

Thor glanced at Jane with a slightly sad smile. She returned it. ‘Only a few days,’ he replied. ‘I have business that can’t be left long.’

‘Ugh, annoying,’ said Darcy.

‘I’m taking a few days off work,’ said Jane. Darcy raised an eyebrow. ‘I am!’ continued Jane. ‘I mean, I’ll still have my books if I have a spare few minutes but…’ She trailed off, realising both Thor and Darcy were about to laugh at her. ‘Look, I’m going to _try_.’ Thor pulled her into his side and kissed the top of her head. She poked his ribs. ‘Anyway, unless you want to be close to the Avengers I figured we could go to my place? Oh, I don’t know if I said? I have a house now! It’s about an hour west of here, and there’s a little guest house where Darcy lives.’

Thor smiled down at her. ‘I should be honoured to visit your home,’ he said. ‘No doubt if I am needed here, I can make the journey quickly enough.’

‘You probably want to avoid it here to be honest,’ said Darcy. ‘If Secretary Asshole figures out you’re on Earth, he’ll probably want you to become one of his minions.’

Thor tilted his head slightly. ‘I understood all of those word separately,’ he said. ‘But I do not know what you mean.’

‘Tony’s boss since all the Avengers drama,’ said Jane. ‘We’ll explain in the car. I’m just going to grab my laptop and then we’ll go.’

Thor listened to Darcy’s spirited retelling of the Avengers’ fall-out while Jane drove. He seemed unconcerned about his own position, or even much about the fight, saying his friends would come together when they were needed. Jane hoped he was right about that. The official Avengers were, as Tony pointed out, a little short-staffed.

They got take-out once they were passing through the closest town to Jane’s place, Thor staying in the car trying not to attract attention, before driving on out of town, car now smelling of Chinese. Jane was aware of a slight nervous flutter as they approached her house. She’d wanted to buy a place with Thor. They’d even idly talked about it, before Ultron and before he’d had to go. Instead she’d used her consultation fees and some of her Nobel prize money to buy something for herself. 

It was an ex-farmhouse with enough land for her to work and easily avoid her neighbours, but not so much that she needed a vehicle to get around it. It was lovely and quiet and had plenty of space and room for Darcy _and_ any extra guests, and it was hers. But it wasn’t really what she’d planned. Thor hadn’t been there to help her choose it, after all.

‘I hope you like it,’ she said at last, as they pulled into the driveway and she skirted a muddy puddle she knew contained a pothole she needed to do something about. ‘It’s a bit… rustic. I wanted somewhere out of town though.’

‘So you can see the stars,’ said Thor softly. He peered out of the window curiously as they approached the building before smiling comfortably at Jane. ‘I am confident that I will like it. Your dwellings are always uniquely yours.’

‘By that I assume you mean messy, with empty cupboards and five million computers?’ said Darcy. ‘If so, then you are correct in almost every way. We do have a housekeeper come a few mornings a week though, so it’s tidier than Jane’s stuff normally is.’

‘Thanks Darcy,’ muttered Jane as she parked.

They made their way in, and had dinner first. The evening was warm, despite the rain earlier, so they ate outside in the setting sun. She dished the take-out onto plates and dug out some beers, deciding she should at least pretend to be an adult. Darcy ate with them: filling Jane in on her date, getting an update about what Thor had been up to, and providing a dramatic retelling of when Jane had been told she’d won the Nobel Prize for Thor's benefit.

‘I did not scream like that,’ Jane argued.

‘Uh huh,’ said Darcy skeptically. ‘You’ve literally told me you don’t remember the five minutes after you first got the phone call, so how do you know you didn’t scream like that?’

‘Because I don’t scream like that for anything.’

‘You totally did. I had to pick up the phone and ask them to hold.’

‘Shut up,’ said Jane. ‘She’s lying,’ she told Thor, who was smiling at her.

‘You keep telling yourself that,’ said Darcy. She got to her feet and stretched her arms. ‘Right, I am gonna go watch some more TV in my place.’ She pointed to the small guest house for Thor’s benefit. It was only fifty feet from the house, but she and Jane both appreciated the space sometimes. ‘That’s my place these days. I’d give you the tour, but I know for a fact you’re way more interested in Jane right now.’ Thor laughed, but didn’t deny it.

He and Jane sat in the sunset finishing their beers for a bit longer. Jane was enjoying the peace, and the normality of it. Sitting, having a beer with her boyfriend was a thing people did. It was a thing she’d done even, though not in a long time. If it hadn’t been Thor being busy, it’d been her. Apart from those few months after the attack on London and their first reunion, they just hadn’t had time for each other.

And just like that, her peace had been ruined. He was there with her, but her brain kept reminding her that it wouldn't be for long. Sighing, Jane downed the last of her beer, picked up the now-empty plates and took them indoors, trying to collect herself. It was bad enough that this sort of thing haunted her when he wasn’t around. It didn’t seem fair that she couldn’t shut it out when he was.

‘Jane?’ He’d followed her in, and she could hear the concern in his voice.

‘I’m fine,’ she said automatically, plastering on a smile and forcing herself back to there and then. He was there with her. They only had a short time. They should make the most of it.

He approached her slowly and took one hand, stroking it with his thumb. Jane’s smile softened and became a bit more genuine.

‘I am fine,’ she assured him, and to her relief it felt like less of a lie. ‘C’mon, let me show you the place.’

She showed him her lab and her telescope, and her prize medal, because she still liked to show it off a bit. He beamed with pride, inspected it in detail, and asked about the ceremony and her lecture. Jane happily obliged with a summary, and promised to dig out the full video for him before he left.

‘You’ll have to watch it when I’m asleep though,’ she told him. ‘I hate watching myself on video.’

Then she took him upstairs to show him the rest of the house, finishing in her bedroom. There, suddenly, she felt awkward. She still had all his clothes, from when he’d lived with her, folded or hung away, waiting. It had become so normal to live around them, but now they were only a reminder of what was missing. Thor ran his hands across his favourite blue-grey cashmere sweater - one that Jane had taken to wearing when she was cold - standing in silence, looking down.

Jane swallowed. When he looked up at her, his eyes were dimmed.

‘I’m sorry, Jane,’ he said at last.

‘Yeah,’ she agreed thickly. ‘Me too.’ She sighed. ‘This was meant to be our house.’

‘If there was anything I could do-’

‘I know. You’d do it.’ Her voice sounded unnecessarily sharp. ‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘It’s just hard. And I know- I know it’s exactly what I signed up for. What we _both_ signed up for. But a year is a really long time for me. Longer than you realise.’

‘It is no short time for me, without you,’ he said. She raised an eyebrow and he gave a rueful smile. ‘But I know that you speak the truth.’

Jane sat on the edge of her bed and sighed. Thor joined her, hesitantly, although he left a distance between them where he usually wouldn’t.

‘I don’t want to ruin today,’ said Jane at last. ‘I just… I really miss you. And I never know what to expect, or when I’ll see you next. Or if I’ll _ever_ see you again. You could die in some space battle and I’d never know and some nights that’s all I can think about!’

‘Jane.’ He paused for so long that she looked up at him. ‘Is this what you want?’

‘No, of course it’s not, that’s what I’m saying!’

‘No, I mean, is this-’ He gestured between the two of them, ‘what you want?’

‘You’re not- you don’t mean-? You don’t _want_ -?’

‘All I want is your happiness,’ said Thor. ‘And it seems that I am not making you happy. I cannot promise more than what we have. I cannot marry you. I cannot have children with you. At the moment I cannot even stay on Midgard with you. I would rather save you the heartache.’

‘And you think _breaking up_ is going to save me heartache?’ she demanded. Her voice was shaking. Her hands were shaking. She was going to be sick.

‘In the longer term it might,’ said Thor.

Jane stared at him. His face was tight. He looked down at his hands, under her gaze.

‘Do you want to break up?’ she asked, balling her fists and trying not to cry. How the _fuck_ had this happened?

‘Jane, I would marry you if I could, but it would never be allowed.’ He looked up as he spoke, his voice suddenly fierce and raw. Then just as quickly as it arrived, the fire dimmed and he spoke more quietly. ‘Everything I want for myself is impossible, so all I can do is what will make you happy.’

‘Well it’s not this!’ she snapped, even as her heart broke for him. She shut her eyes tightly, willed away tears and tried to figure out what the hell was going on. ‘Thor, I knew when I was thirteen I wasn’t going to have children, because I was going to be a Physicist.’

‘Are they really so mutually exclusive?’ he asked, honestly curious.

‘Yes, for women,’ said Jane frankly. She opened her eyes and looked at him again. ‘And I knew when I was twenty-three and had just broken up with my supposed perfect boyfriend that I would never be able to prioritise any one person over physics. I don’t- I don’t want to meet some guy and get married and pop out babies. That’s not what I’m missing from you.’

‘I do know that,’ he said. ‘I just wish I could be here with you. I wish I could give you everything. I… sometimes I worry that I ask too much of you. Or that you don’t want… that you would prefer not to...’ He trailed off. Suddenly he was the one who looked afraid.

‘Yeah, well, I’ll tell you if that’s ever the case,’ she said. She tried to sound reassuring. She mostly just sounded cranky. ‘But it’s not. I don’t want less of you. That’s the opposite of this conversation. And new relationship rule: no offering to break up with me unless you actually want to do it for your own reasons.’

He nodded gravely. ‘I am sorry, Jane. My words were poorly chosen. I would be with you for the rest of your life, if you wish it.’

‘Right,’ said Jane thickly. Her brain was going too quickly to properly respond, declarations of love and hope of marriage bleeding into offers to break up and all the stupid sadness she felt whenever he left. ‘I’m going to have a shower. Just… get comfortable.’ He looked concerned, but she needed a few minutes, so she left him to it. 

In the shower she turned up the water slightly too hot and thought about the energy density of Yggdrasil. Her personal life had never been this complicated before. She scrubbed her body down and debated shaving her legs, but the only razor she could find was long-since blunted. Thor never seemed to care anyway; she only really did it out of habit.

Eventually, she stopped the shower, put on a towel, and exited back to her bedroom. Thor was lounging on her bed, wearing a pair of sweatpants and nothing else, reading the book she and Darcy had written. He greeted her with a nervous smile. Jane, suddenly needing reassurance as much as he seemed to, climbed onto the bed next to him still wearing her towels.

‘We’ll be all right,’ she told him firmly. ‘But you need to hurry up and defeat your space tyrant, deal?’

He smiled properly then. ‘Deal,’ he promised, before leaning down to kiss her.


	3. Packing For Mars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane Foster has got enough on her plate, what with being a full time researcher, giving lectures, applying for grants, writing books, and consulting for Stark Industries. When Thor drops off the face of the universe and leaves her on Earth with no clues as to where he is, she doesn’t know what to do or how to find him.
> 
> Then an attack on Stark Industries changes everything, and she finds herself getting thrown into a life that she’s previously only watched from the sidelines, and where getting punched through a wall is suddenly just an average day of the week.

At first there was only the dark. It invaded her mind and her body and all she could see was black, pouring into her and around her and breaking every cell in her body. It burned her. It burned her until there was none of her left, just a swirling mass of destruction and power. In the right hands, she could do anything. 

Her own hands were weak and broken, the red magic streaming below the surface destroying her, bit by bit, cell by cell, atom by atom. She needed to get home, to get to Malekith, to get away from this feeble, mortal shell. She needed to… needed to… needed…

‘Svartalfheim.’ Jane awoke with that word on her lips and a cry of fear stifled in her throat.

Sun streamed through the open windows, curtains lightly swaying in the breeze. The large bed held only her, and she would have thought the previous day completely a dream were it not for Thor’s clothes resting over a chair, and the smell of bacon and coffee pervading the house.

She was still clutching the sheets of her bed, and she released her grasp, took a couple of deep breaths and grabbed pyjamas and a dressing gown. She’d been sweating too, and in the breeze she felt suddenly too cold and she wrapped herself up tightly and made her way downstairs. Thor and Darcy’s amiable bickering could be heard in the corridor to the kitchen.

‘-don’t see why you don’t make me breakfast in bed,’ said Darcy.

‘I am making you breakfast,’ said Thor.

‘Yes, but I had to come here, to this house, which is like, an epic trek away from my own house. You never bring me breakfast.’

‘Well I am not in love with you,’ said Thor reasonably. Jane’s lips twitched upwards.

‘That’s no reason not to bring me breakfast,’ said Darcy, as Jane pushed open the door to join them in the sunny kitchen. Despite the company and the beautiful day, she couldn’t shake her dream yet and she hugged her dressing gown about her.

‘Jane, I would have brought you-’ He broke off as he took in her face. ‘Are you well?’

‘Svartalfheim,’ said Jane, for the second time that morning.

Thor blinked. He gestured for her to move forward though, pulling out a chair and pouring her out a mug of coffee before joining her at the kitchen table. ‘Why do you speak of that Realm?’ he asked.

‘Because…’ Jane licked her lips, thinking of her dream, ‘the Aether’s there.’

She didn’t realise what she was saying until she said it. For a moment it sounded ridiculous, like something someone else had said. All the same, she suddenly knew it had to be true.

Thor regarded her seriously. ‘You are certain?’ he said.

‘Yes- No- I think so. Yes.’ She shook her head, trying to dislodge the hazy fear of the dream and concentrate only on what she'd seen. ‘I feel certain. I don’t know if I’m right but I feel completely certain I am.’ 

‘Did you see it?’ he asked, his tone so level it took her a moment to process. She’d expected more skepticism. 

‘I dreamed it. It- it’s connected to Svartalfheim, to the Dark Elves. Even when it was in me before, it wanted to go back to Malekith. It knew him.’

‘Uh, Jane,’ said Darcy. ‘Just checking: you do know this sounds nuts, right?’

‘Yeah,’ said Jane. ‘I know, but I saw- no, I _felt_ it.’

‘Powerful magic such as that leaves traces, even after it is removed,’ said Thor slowly. ‘You may still have a connection to the Aether, although I'd hoped you had not. I do not believe you typically experience clairvoyance or prophetic dreams?’

‘Er… no,’ said Jane, doing her best to answer as seriously as he posed the question. Sometimes even she forgot he was a magical alien. ‘It might just have been a nightmare,’ she admitted.

‘But you do not believe it was?’ said Thor.

Jane sighed, turning over her brain and her dream, and shook her head. ‘No. I used to have nightmares about it all the time. This felt… different. Somehow. I don't know.’

‘It may turn out to have been nothing more than a dream,’ said Thor, ‘but nonetheless it should be investigated.’

Her heart sank but she couldn’t feel any surprise. Somehow she’d known it would come to this. ‘You’re leaving, aren’t you? Right away?’

‘If there’s any chance this is real, I must discover it.’

‘I know.’ Jane laughed bitterly. ‘Should have kept my mouth shut.’

‘You care too much for the universe to do that,’ said Thor, eyes sad but sincere.

‘Ditto at you,’ grumbled Jane.

‘Erm. Should I, like, go?’ said Darcy, hovering at her seat, and then making to leave.

Jane shut her eyes. She had work to do. He’d be back eventually. It was fine. Of course he was going. She had signed up for this when she fell for an alien prince.

‘Take me with you.’ She said it without thinking, turning to him beseechingly. 

Thor had stood to turn off the bacon, but this stopped him in his tracks and he stared at her. 

‘I can… help.’ It suddenly sounded ridiculous even to her. What help could she be? But she knew in her heart that more than anything, she wanted to go. She looked at her hands. 

‘Jane.’ She heard the scrape of the chair on the floor beside her and looked back to him when he took her hand. ‘It is dangerous. Svartalfheim is welcoming compared to some of the places I have visited - realms with no air, with seas of mercury, or clouds of acid. No mortal could survive.’

‘Then leave me on a damn beach on Kepler 186F!’ said Jane, a sudden frustration rising within her. She could hardly be the only “mortal” travelling the stars. ‘You said there was a human involved in finding the Power Stone so it’s not like it’s impossible. At least then I could see you more than once a year!’

‘If something were to happen to me, you would be stranded.’

‘Then I will hitchhike. I’ve wanted to hitchhike in space since I was about eight.’ Thor stared at her. ‘There’s a book series,’ she explained, feeling more stupid by the minute.

Thor was silent for a moment. ‘All right,’ he said at last.

Jane blinked. 

‘Wait, what?’ Darcy suddenly appeared back at the table.

‘If that is what you wish, if your work can wait, and if you are truly prepared for the risk, then I will take you. You might help more than you know. You have a connection with the Aether after all.’

‘Seriously?’ said Jane, gaping. ‘I can go to space?’

‘If you want. I would rather be with no one else.’

‘Oh my god oh my god.’ She flung herself at Thor and kissed him messily. ‘Really?’

He laughed and held her waist and kissed her nose. ‘Yes, so long as you are prepared to occasionally follow my orders, and you accept it if I say you cannot come with me all the way.’

‘I can definitely do that,’ agreed Jane. Thor raised an eyebrow. ‘I can. I totally can. I promise.’

‘So do you need to… pack?’ asked Darcy dubiously.

‘Uh,’ said Jane, thinking through her clothes. She wasn’t sure what to take on an interplanetary adventure that would probably kill her.

‘Not just yet,’ said Thor, like a bucket of cold water. She frowned and he gave her an apologetic smile. ‘I must first return to Asgard. I told you yesterday I need to speak with my father. And Svartalfheim is no small realm - I will want his magic to help trace the Aether.’ He hesitated. ‘Forgive me, but I would not have you brought to Svartalfheim unless there is no other choice. The Aether might... recognise you.’

Jane bit back a shudder. ‘Right. Fair. No Svartalfheim. So… what do we do now?’

‘I will go to Asgard today. I will return here or send some messenger within 30 days, that I promise. If you permit, whilst I am on Asgard, I will source suitable clothes and equipment for you. Midgardian fabrics are not as strong, nor as easy to keep clean, as those I can acquire. And I believe your space agency’s clothes are too large and bulky to be practical if we do need to enter a vacuum.’

‘Yes, OK, wow, oh my god, yes, that sounds great.’

He smiled at her and Jane felt her heart skip. Thirty days. Thirty days to sort her life out, and talk her mom around to this being a great idea, and work out what she wanted to take to space. She could definitely do that.


	4. UFOs and Aliens: Is There Anybody Out There?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane Foster has got enough on her plate, what with being a full time researcher, giving lectures, applying for grants, writing books, and consulting for Stark Industries. When Thor drops off the face of the universe and leaves her on Earth with no clues as to where he is, she doesn’t know what to do or how to find him.
> 
> Then an attack on Stark Industries changes everything, and she finds herself getting thrown into a life that she’s previously only watched from the sidelines, and where getting punched through a wall is suddenly just an average day of the week.

Twenty-one days later, Iron Man and War Machine barrelled into her lab at the Avengers’ facility.

‘Jane you need to come with us,’ barked Tony.

‘What the- No I don’t, I need to-’

‘ _Jane_!’

‘Do I need anything?’

‘Just yourself. Come on!’

Jane sighed, grabbed her coat, phone and notepad, and followed them to the Quinjet, Darcy at her heels.

‘They could say please,’ she grumbled to herself.

‘It’s probably the apocalypse again,’ pointed out Darcy.

‘Then why are they asking me to come? So I can intimidate it with math?’

‘Well, we have stopped one apocalypse. They probably need a bit of help.’

On board the Quinjet, Maria Hill was in the pilot’s seat. She nodded abruptly in greeting and directed them to take a seat. ‘Strap in, ladies,’ she said. ‘We’re going to be flying supersonic.’

‘What’s the in-flight meal like?’ asked Darcy. Tony reached into a compartment, pulled out a granola bar, and handed it to her. ‘Wow, talk about service.’

‘Where are we going?’ said Jane. ‘What’s happening?’ Rhodey and Tony exchanged glances. ‘Out with it, guys.’

‘We’re going to New Mexico,’ said Tony. ‘Near a little place that used to be called Puente Antiguo before it got razed to the ground. You might have heard of it.’

Jane felt her blood suddenly turn to ice. ‘What has happened?’ she demanded.

‘DoD satellite array detected a meteorite about an hour ago,’ said Rhodey. He sat down opposite her and held her gaze. He kept his voice calm and level and normally that would be comforting but Jane’s heart was thumping in her chest. ‘They sent someone to check it out. It’s a hammer. Ross has called us in. So far, no signs of Thor. Just a hammer giving off EM radiation. They want you to confirm it’s his.’

‘How many other magic space hammers do they think there are?’ snapped Jane.

‘Hey, hey, Jane, breathe,’ said Rhodey. ‘We’re also going down to look for him, see if he’s around. Because if Mjolnir’s here, then surely he must be too.’

Jane swallowed. Darcy took her hand and she clutched it tightly. Thor would be fine. They’d probably have found him before the Quinjet even got there. He was probably in a bar making friends. Or just concussed and unconscious, which would have been cause for concern if her boyfriend was anyone else, but with Thor was just another Tuesday.

Two hours later she was at a military encampment built up around Mjolnir. The logos had changed - it was the US Army and not SHIELD - and so had the faces, but it was hard to shake off the deja vu. It had been five years. Five years since she’d been hunting for pennies in the couch cushions to buy her own equipment, the silly researcher with crazy ideas who’d be better off if she put her talent to some real physics. Five years since Donnie Blake had walked out of her life swearing up and down she’d be alone forever because she was too obsessed with physics, and she'd yelled after him that physics was a more exciting bed partner anyway. Five years since she’d reluctantly picked up an intern with no background in science just so she’d have someone who hold her equipment and keep her coffee pot refilled. And five years, of course, since she’d run over an alien in the middle of the desert and everything had changed.

She’d not yet let go of Darcy’s hand. She was worried if she did she’d start to cry. 

‘Is this Mjolnir?’ Secretary Ross demanded of her. 

Jane’s eyes were fixed on the hammer. She could feel the thrum in the air, the closeness, the… personality of Thor’s hammer. She reached out, ignoring Ross’s shout not to, and took hold of the handle. It was warm in her hand. It's vibrations seemed to match her heartbeat, somehow. It didn’t move at all but it did feel somehow right against her skin. Reassuring, in its own way. If Mjolnir was here, Thor would be too.

A soldier snatched her hand away and she swore at him and nursed the arm he’d knocked against his gun.

‘Is it or is it not Thor’s hammer?’ demanded Ross. ‘Civilians are not permitted in this area for any longer than necessary. The radiation could be dangerous.’

‘It’s Mjolnir,’ said Jane. ‘And I think if it were dangerous it would have caused a problem all those times I showered in the same room as it, or that time Thor used it to make chicken cutlets.’

‘You must have eaten half a pound of alien brain matter that day alone,’ said Tony, looking revolted.

‘The metal is sterile,’ said Jane crisply. She’d told Thor off about the cutlets but she wasn’t going to admit to that.

Ross had them shuttled out of the area and Jane clenched her fists and managed not to say anything. She had a lot of reasons for not caring for Ross, but she knew there was nothing he or the rest of the army could do to Mjolnir, and fighting over it wouldn’t help find Thor faster.

‘If the hammer is here, that means so is Thor,’ said Ross. ‘You need to find him.’

‘Well actually I thought we were just here to hang around and look shiny,’ said Tony sarcastically.

‘I know you think this is a joke, but we need him brought in,’ demanded Ross. ‘This is the first sighting we’ve had of Thor since the Accords. We cannot have him running around on his own. The last time he was here, this entire town was destroyed.’

‘Wait, you’re worried about the _Accords_?’ said Jane, disbelieving. 

‘I am worried about an enhanced individual alone, with no oversight, causing possible danger to the civilian population,’ replied Ross.

‘Yeah, sort of a hobby with you, isn’t it?’ said Jane. ‘Betty says hi, by the way. Except she doesn’t, because you’re an ass-’

‘And, we’re going!’ Darcy interrupted brightly, stepping in between Jane and a thunderous Ross. ‘Let’s go to the Quinjet, remote into Stark’s satellites, and look for other meteors from last night to see if we can find Thor.’

Jane was tempted to shake her off, but then Rhodey put his arm around her shoulders and walked with them. Tony was badly concealing his snickering. Ross let them go, which was probably for the best.

‘We’re going to fly and get a view from up-top,’ said Rhodey. ‘We’ll be in touch as soon as we see anything. There’s a town that way if you want to find a motel, but I know you probably don’t.’

‘Not until we’ve found him,’ said Jane.

Since Darcy’s idea about the Quinjet was a good one, that was where they went, brewing some fairly disgusting coffee from the same compartment Tony had got the granola bar from, and settling down to the computers. Maria went with them - to assist and probably to babysit, if Jane knew Tony - and the extra set of eyes was useful when poring over satellite data. 

It didn’t take long to realise nothing else sufficiently large had struck the area around the crater for the past few days. Jane set Darcy looking back for the past twenty-one days, ever since she’d last seen Thor, and she and Maria started expanding their search beyond just the local area. As day became evening became night, Jane’s sense of deja vu only grew stronger. Hopeless searching for Thor had already characterised more of her life than she’d expected, and her eyes were drooping no matter what she did.

In the end, she slept.

~*~

The skies were filled with black and red and smoke and fire. All around, the mountains crumbled and she reached out to them. Beneath the black fire streaming from her fingers, they became nothing. At her feet lay Thor, Loki, and Jane Foster. All three covered in blood and bruises, unrecognisable, but she knew it was them. 

Ahead, in the darkness on the horizon, were five bright, shining jewels, calling her closer.

‘ _Jane!_ ’ She jerked awake and grabbed for her assailant, knocking his hand off her shoulder.

It was Tony. She blinked and stared around herself. She was on the floor of the Quinjet, covered with a regulation grey blanket. Darcy slumbered on beside her and Rhodey was asleep on the bench across from them. 

‘Hi,’ she said weakly.

‘Nightmare?’ said Tony. For once he looked sympathetic, rather than mocking.

She frowned and pinched her nose and tried to shake the images from her head. ‘Something like that.’ It felt different somehow. It felt like she’d missed something obvious. The images in her mind slipped through her grasp like sand and she sighed and leaned back against the wall of the plane.

Tony handed her a coffee. 

‘No luck for you, then?’ she asked.

‘No, nothing. Ross has left me a voicemail chewing me out and telling me to get back to it, but we were falling asleep in our suits. Friday had to autopilot me home. Same for you?’

‘Yeah,’ said Jane, glancing up where she’d been working. ‘No sign of anything that’s not Mjolnir arriving.’

‘We’ll find him,’ said Tony.

Jane sent him a small, tight smile and sipped her coffee. The dream had now been replaced with hazy memories of satellite data she’d studied and studied until all she could see were numbers.

‘We’re still in New Mexico?’ she asked.

‘Haven’t even taken off,’ Tony assured her. ‘At least, the jet hasn’t. I have, of course.’

Jane nodded and focussed on her coffee again, at a loss as to what else to think about.

‘So remind me, what was he doing specifically when he left?’ said Tony. ‘And obviously Ross doesn’t know he was here so let’s not talk too loudly.’

Jane let out a small, tired laugh. ‘I thought you were going to tell Ross about the Infinity Stones?’

‘We, ah, said Thor sent an email.’

At that, she laughed more loudly, before recalling herself to the conversation. ‘Thor was going to Asgard. He- we thought the Aether might be on Svartalfheim and he wanted his dad’s help to find it. And he also…’ Jane trailed off, turning the thought over in her head. ‘He knew something was wrong on Asgard,’ she said, tugging on her hair absent-mindedly. ‘What if that’s what’s happened? The thing he knew was coming?’

‘Was it that Thanos guy? After the Tesseract?’ asked Tony, sitting up.

‘No. At least, he didn’t think so. He thought it was something else.’ It had been Asgard she’d seen in her dream, she suddenly realised. She’d not been on Svartalfheim. The mountains hadn’t led to barren and broken plains: they’d led to a once-glorious city, rotting beneath her touch. ‘I need to-’

She scrambled to her feet and back to the computer she’d been using. They’d been looking for Thor’s arrival, assuming it had happened. If it hadn’t, they were completely off-base. Her energy calculations, now complete, sat waiting to be used. 

‘Tony, how many of Stark’s satellites were upgraded with those new detectors we built?’

‘Fifteen, last count,’ said Tony. ‘Still five to go.’

‘With those fifteen, have we got full Earth coverage?’

‘Should do, but if you’re downloading that much data and then running the sort of code you write, you’re going to kill these computers.’

‘Can I borrow your cluster at SI?’

Tony sighed. ‘Yes, fine, just don’t break it. And text Pepper.’

‘It’s five am.’

‘Which is one of the many reasons you are going to text her and I am not.’

Jane patted the arm of his suit, messaged Pepper, and got Tony to input his credentials to remote into the Stark Industries cluster so she could boot anyone else off if she needed to. Then she started pulling together all her data and her brand new shiny algorithm. Tony sat beside her, on the other machine, helping her process the sheer amount of information. She was looking through twenty-two days of information across the entire planet.

An hour later, Darcy and Rhodey had woken up and she’d got them to help her, when Pepper called.

Tony shot up and muttered something about visiting the toilet. Jane waited until he’d locked the door before she answered her phone.

‘Hey Pepper.’

‘Jane, is everything OK?’

Jane looked around the cramped interior of the jet, at the gross cup of coffee she was half way through, at yesterday’s stale clothes, and thought of herself and Thor, dead in her dream. ‘No,’ she muttered eventually. ‘Not really.’

‘What’s happened?’

‘Thor’s missing.’

‘Oh no! Are you-? Wait? The satellite crash?’

‘It's Mjolnir. Without Thor. I’m running data to try and work out if he could be on Earth. That’s why I need the cluster.’

‘Of course, don’t worry about it. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.’

‘Thanks Pepper,’ she said. She hesitated. ‘The others are OK.’

No need for Pepper to ask who Jane meant by that. ‘Thanks. I’m glad to hear it.’ 

They said their goodbyes and Jane returned to her data. Tony emerged from the washroom some two minutes later, looking like he’d stuck his head down the toilet. The others all stared at him.

‘Look, I needed a shower,’ he said. Water dripped down his nose and his carefully styled hair was no more. He still badly needed a shave, but so did Rhodey.

‘Please tell me you used the sink and not the toilet bowl,’ said Rhodey.

~*~

Jane was half dozing when the algorithm finished running. As soon as she heard the notification she jumped upright and lunged forward to the computer to see the results.

Twenty-two days ago, at midday, the Bifrost had touched down at the Avengers’ compound. Twenty-one days ago, at eight in the morning, the same signs were there, this time at her house. The previous day, at two-thirteen pm, the bridge had opened and Mjolnir had fallen to Earth. Over the entire planet, there’d been no sign of it at any other time. Thor had not used the Bifrost or a wormhole to get to Earth. That meant he was still elsewhere.

‘Well,’ said Tony. ‘I guess that means we can at least tell Ross there’s no point in being here.’

Jane rechecked the numbers just to be sure, but it was right.

‘You know, normally us being able to detect wormholes opening anywhere on the planet would be an achievement,’ said Tony heavily. ‘Nice work, team, and all that.’

‘Yeah,’ agreed Jane quietly. She’d seen Asgard burning in her dream.

‘Maybe we should go back to New York,’ said Darcy.

‘No! We can’t! What if he-?’ Jane broke off. She didn’t know what she was thinking. ‘We can’t just leave!’ Mjolnir was there, in the desert. They had to be there for Thor.

‘OK, not there, then,’ said Darcy reasonably. ‘Let’s go find a motel and get some clean clothes.’

‘Yeah- I guess- I don’t know-’ She wished everyone would go away and stop talking and stop being with her. She wanted to scream and hit something and cry but there were too many people and she had to keep it together for Thor. She’d seen him dead. She’d seen herself dead. Maybe it couldn’t happen until she was there. Maybe he was fine. She had to believe he was fine.

Then she heard the Bifrost outside.

‘THOR!’ She ran to the back of the Quinjet, slammed the button to open it, and pulled herself up the slowly descending ramp. She struggled over the top and thought she was going to fall back, and then suddenly she found her feet, rolled over the door and fell to the dusty ground. She ignored the shout of her name behind her. 

Coughing, she ran forward. There was a wall of soldiers, guns armed. 

‘Thor! Is that...’ As she barrelled through the soldiers, Sif was revealed to her. ‘Sif! Thor? Is he OK?’

‘Jane, tell these men to stand down, I mean them no harm.’

‘Put your guns away!’ she snapped. The soldiers seemed to hesitate as one until Tony, Rhodey, Darcy and Maria appeared at last.

‘Jane, who is that?’

‘It’s Thor’s friend Sif,’ Darcy supplied. ‘She’s cool. Like, super cool if I’m honest. Natasha Romanoff plus magic levels of cool.’ Sif looked politely baffled.

Relieved at not having to explain herself when she wasn’t currently finding the words, Jane turned back to Sif. ‘Thor?’ she asked again.

‘He has disappeared from Asgard,’ said Sif.

‘ _What?_ ’

Before Sif could say anything else, Secretary Ross appeared. Rhodey and Tony and Maria all shot Jane a do-not-say-anything look, which she thought was a bit rich coming from them. Particularly Tony.

‘Ah, Secretary Ross,’ said Tony. ‘This is, um, Lady Sif?’ He glanced in Sif’s direction and she gave him a small nod. ‘Of Asgard. She’s a friend of Thor. My, ah, Lady, this is Secretary Ross, the Secretary of State for our country.’

Sif gave a short bow. ‘Secretary Ross,’ she greeted politely. ‘It is an honour to meet you.’

‘My Lady,’ said Ross gruffly. He still kept his distance, standing with the soldiers. ‘What is your business here?’ 

‘Heimdall, Gatekeeper of Asgard, saw Mjolnir land on Earth and informed Odin Allfather,’ said Sif. ‘Thor is gone from Asgard. We thought him journeying on his quest, but if Mjolnir is truly on Midgard then he may be in grave danger.’

‘It’s Mjolnir,’ confirmed Jane, voice small and tight. ‘I saw it yesterday.’

Sif nodded slowly. ‘Then we must search for him,’ she said.

‘He’s not on Earth,’ burst out Jane. ‘I confirmed that this morning. Only Mjolnir arrived by wormhole. And now you. Nobody else.’

‘Maybe we should go inside and pool our knowledge,’ suggested Rhodey, with a meaningful glance at Jane and a slight nod towards Ross. ‘It’s gonna get a bit warm in the heat soon.’

Ross reluctantly agreed and gestured to the men surrounding Sif to be at ease.

‘He’s not to be trusted,’ hissed Jane at Sif, who raised her eyebrows. ‘We’re not even telling him Thor was here three weeks ago.’

The discussion with Ross was awkward and uninformative. Sif had accepted Jane’s word and handed over precious little information. Rhodey and Tony talked only about what Ross already knew. Jane sat and stewed in silence and tried not to panic. What good was talking doing for any of them?

It took a lot of Rhodey and Maria’s best diplomacy to convince Ross to “permit” Sif to return with them to New York. They just needed to hand over some data that would help in her search, they promised. Securely stored data that couldn’t be downloaded and copied from here, even with Stark’s credentials. In the end, it worked, and Jane found herself being herded back into the Quinjet once more, this time to fly away from Mjolnir. It felt wrong, somehow. She felt like she should be staying.

‘Is the charade finished?’ demanded Sif as they took off.

‘Yeah, sorry about that,’ said Tony. ‘Politics is complicated at the moment. Ross is after Thor because he wants him to sign an agreement with the government.

Sif looked incredulous. ‘Surely he cannot expect a Prince of Asgard would agree to his own terms?’

‘Well, we’re a bit worried he does, and we’re trying to delay the moment we have to deal with that,’ said Tony.

‘Plus he’s an epic asshole,’ said Jane. ‘I know his daughter. He’s a huge jerk.’

‘Yeah, well, asshole parents,’ said Tony, with a wave of his hand. ‘They’re a dime a dozen.’

‘Will you tell me now what happened when last your saw Thor?’ asked Sif.

Jane did the talking. Once she started it was hard to stop, words helplessly tumbling out of her because even the slightest tiny detail might help Sif. If Thor wasn’t here, Sif would find him. Of all his friends, Sif was his oldest and dearest, brought up practically as a sister to himself and Loki. So Jane told her everything: not just Thor’s warnings about Thanos and the Infinity Stones, but his fears of something wrong on Asgard and of the dream she’d had about Svartalfheim and her dream that morning. She was conscious of the eyes of the others on her, but Sif, like Thor, took potentially magic-induced dreams in her stride.

‘Any prophecy is rarely fully accurate,’ she said, ‘and that from a dream even less so. It seems unlikely Loki will lie dead with you when he died many moons ago.’

Jane managed a small smile. ‘Yeah, I hope so, it just felt… real.’

‘After Thor’s return from Midgard he went straight to his father,’ said Sif. ‘Together they prepared and then journeyed to Svartalfheim - Thor said he believed the Aether to be there, though he perhaps wisely did not reveal his source to the Allfather.’

‘Did they find it?’ asked Jane, with baited breath.

Sif shook her head. ‘No,’ she said. ‘They returned, having covered the realm in their magic.’

‘What? But- it… it felt so real,’ said Jane, frowning to herself and rubbing her eyebrow. Had she just made it up?

‘It may be that you saw the past, or even the future,’ said Sif. ‘It may have been a simple nightmare. I am no expert in this sort of magic.’

‘What happened when they came back from Svartalfheim?’ asked Jane.

‘Thor departed only the next day,’ said Sif. ‘He ate a meal with us, the night before. He was quiet, but well, with little to report.’

‘But- he-’ Jane broke off. _He said he was coming back for me._ Under Sif’s gaze, she suddenly felt small and stupid. Had he just been saying things to make her happy? Had he planned to leave her on Midgard anyway? A cold heaviness settled in her stomach even as she reminded herself that that was not something Thor would do. ‘Did you see him in the morning?’

‘No,’ said Sif. ‘I half expected to - I rose before dawn for my own duties. It seems he departed even before then.’

‘Then what? Surely Heimdall can tell you what time he left?’ Jane felt her impatience and fear rising. They had an all-seeing guardian. How could someone be missing?

‘Many of his journeys have been by a ship,’ said Sif. ‘Heimdall saw no sight of him leave, but Heimdall cannot watch all things at all times. It was not until Mjolnir landed here, some five days since, that any of us knew anything was amiss.’

‘Five days? He’s been gone for _five days_?’ 

‘He may have only found trouble more recently,’ said Sif. ‘We do not know when it was Mjolnir began to find its way to Midgard. Nor, frankly, do we know why or how.’

‘No, it was-’ Jane broke off and glanced helplessly at Darcy.

‘Jane,’ said Darcy. ‘Literally, when have you known the dude to break a promise?’

Sif frowned. ‘What?’

‘When Thor was leaving, he promised Jane that either he’d be back on Earth after he was done with Asgard and Svartalfheim, or he’d send a note,’ said Darcy. ‘And Thor never breaks promises. So something went wrong after you guys had dinner but before he could look up Jane, QED.’

Sif’s expression cleared and she nodded. ‘Of course,’ she said. ‘That does narrow the search too, which may be helpful. For all that Thor being attacked on Asgard seems improbable, it is apparently the only possibility.’ Jane let out a breath at the sudden rush of relief that mixed with the background panic she’d been unable to push down. She’d not realised how much Sif’s reaction to Thor’s promise - that of absolute trust that he would keep it - would mean to her. Sif seemed to notice and sent her a very small smile. ‘He would never break a promise, to anyone, Jane Foster, much less would he abandon you. I will find him for you.’

‘Can I come with you?’ asked Jane desperately. ‘There has to be something I can do!’

Sif’s eyes were annoyingly kind as she shook her head. ‘The Allfather would never permit it. I promise you this: I will tell you as soon as I find him, and if there is anything you might do, I shall ask for it.’

Jane swallowed. That didn’t feel like nearly enough, but she had to trust Sif’s word, just like she had to trust Thor’s.

Sif left them by opening the back of the Quinjet, flinging herself out, and being caught by the Bifrost when she was only a spec in the distance.

‘Holy shit,’ said Darcy, as soon as the Quinjet closed enough that they could hear each other. ‘I told you she was cool. You guys could never.’

‘I have literally done that,’ said Tony.

‘Wearing a _flying suit_ ,’ argued Darcy. ‘She doesn’t even have a parachute. Sorry, bud, you’re not just Lady Sif levels of cool and you never will be.’


	5. Finding Moonshine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane Foster has got enough on her plate, what with being a full time researcher, giving lectures, applying for grants, writing books, and consulting for Stark Industries. When Thor drops off the face of the universe and leaves her on Earth with no clues as to where he is, she doesn’t know what to do or how to find him.
> 
> Then an attack on Stark Industries changes everything, and she finds herself getting thrown into a life that she’s previously only watched from the sidelines, and where getting punched through a wall is suddenly just an average day of the week.

Jane wasn’t sure exactly what she’d expected of Sif dropping by and promising to sort things out, but she supposed it was _something_. With Heimdall’s all-seeing eyes and Sif’s strength, part of her even relaxed a little bit. The Prince of Asgard could hardly just vanish without a trace.

Instead long days passed with no news. Her sleeping schedule, already a mess, became even more erratic as she slept only when she couldn’t work any more. Her biggest task - all she could do - was turning her one-off Bifrost detector into something that could work in real time, without needing all of Stark Industries’ computing power and (briefly) taking down their telecomm network. (Pepper had been very understanding about the stock price dip, but Jane wasn’t allowed to do it again.) Once she had that up and running, she’d be able to sleep again, because her phone would wake her up whenever someone landed on Earth. The problem was, for it to run properly it relied on more satellites having the detecting capability - which wasn’t something she could do - and her code being made more efficient - which wasn’t something she was very good at. So instead she found herself working in pointless circles, trying to be productive and failing, and then trying to do something new and let other people be productive for her, but not being able to concentrate.

She wished everyone would stop being so _kind_. Tony and Rhodey were tiptoeing around her without any teasing at all, and when she angrily told them to quit it, it didn’t work. Even Darcy was being nice to her, and the niceness was cloying. She couldn’t shake the feeling that they all thought Thor must be dead. What other explanation could there be for Mjolnir’s presence and the lack of news from Asgard?

When she walked in on Darcy, Tony, and Rhodey one day, a week and a half after Mjolnir had landed on Earth, she was suddenly faced with awkward, empty silence that quickly became false smiles of greeting. She knew the signs. She’d spent enough time in high school with people talking about her behind her back to know exactly what that looked like.

‘Well?’ she demanded, feeling anger rising within her. She had enough to deal with without this.

‘Jane!’ said Tony, unconvincingly bright. ‘How are you?’

She sucked in a breath and clenched her fists and looked about the room for something she should throw or beat or scream at and found nothing. ‘I- I’m done. I’ll be back.’

And then she ran, ran out of the room, through the corridors of the facility. She didn’t think about where she was going until she found herself struggling to pull car keys from her pocket and cursing even as she succeeded, forcing back tears that she refused to cry because she hadn’t given up.

‘Jane! _JANE!_ ’

Darcy caught up with her in the parking lot out the back of the facility. She’d always been shit at running. She panted for a few moments, struggling for breath even as tears still threatened.

‘Look, I’m sorry, we weren’t- I know it’s a dick move, but we are all worried about you.’

‘’Darcy, I- I can’t- I need to go. I’m sorry. I can’t-’ She clutched at her car keys - her lifeline to an escape. ‘It’s not your fault. I just need to go.’

Darcy surveyed her for a second. ‘You got your phone?’ Jane nodded. ‘Well keep it on. Last time I let you go wandering you accidentally crossed a national border and got arrested, remember?’

Jane choked back a sob, but ducked into her car before she completely lost control of herself, pulling out of the parking lot without even a real goodbye. She couldn’t face other people, even Darcy.

In her car, the radio and the traffic and the ongoing roadworks nearby made for a distraction, so she followed aimless circles, turning when she felt like it and driving when she didn’t. She listened to NPR for a bit, and then found a local station playing some appalling metal which she could scream along to and feel like she was doing something. And then she put on the radio static and listened to that.

When she was very young she’d always listened to the static in the hope of uncovering secret messages, and then her dad had told her that what she was hearing was the origin of the universe itself and she’d hardly been able to turn it off. Sometimes she’d go to sleep to radio static, trying to hear the pattern in the nothingness.

Eventually, she went home, packed a rucksack, and got back into her car again. This time she headed northwest. She’d not been to Niagara Falls since she was six, with her parents. She’d wanted to go for a swim, but they hadn’t let her. She wondered if Thor could swim off the falls. It seemed like something he would do if she asked him whether it was possible. It seemed like something he would survive and show off about. 

She turned back to NPR. She didn’t want to think about Thor.

Four hours later, she was leaving the traffic of Syracuse behind, when it suddenly occurred to her that if he came back, she was in the middle of nowhere and she’d have hours to travel. She pulled over to the side of the road and burst into tears. 

It was her first, real cry since Sif had confirmed something was wrong, and she sobbed into her jacket, thinking of Thor, dead or injured; Sif, lost and with no answers; and herself, never hearing from either again. Eventually some helpful passing motorist came to offer a hand but she waved him on his way rather forcefully, hiccuping to herself. Then suddenly she was laughing at how she must have looked: crying and screaming and red-eyed, wearing three-day old clothes and with hair that hadn’t been washed in even longer.

Her throat ached. Her eyes burned. She’d got snot all over her jacket. And yet somehow she felt better. 

She needed something to _do_. She needed to be able to help, and help usefully. Optimising her own code or nagging Tony about satellites would only get her so far. All of it was proceeding without her and she knew she couldn't be any use.

There was only one thing within her grasp that she hadn’t yet studied to exhaustion: Mjolnir. There was no rhyme or reason for Mjolnir making its way to Earth if Thor wasn’t here. That was an unknown. Had Thor sent it? Had _Odin_ sent it? Had it grown sentience and sent itself? She had no idea. But it was something here on Earth that she could study: something Sif had no more answers about than she did.

She sucked in a breath. Mjolnir was still in New Mexico. The Avengers had debated bringing in Vision to move it somewhere useful, but Ross hadn’t been too pleased about Vision absconding (to Seoul, although Ross didn’t know that), and he didn’t yet know Vision could lift the hammer anyway. Tony hadn't seen the need to complicate matters - as he'd pointed out, the Army watching Puente Antiguo was keeping Ross out of their hair. Jane knew if she was going to get hold of any data from Ross and the army, she needed a much subtler hand than her own.

Jane reached for her phone and dialled.

‘Jane! Are you OK?’ 

In the darkness of her car, it suddenly occurred to Jane it was ten o’clock at night. ‘Yeah, uh fine. I didn’t wake you, did I?’

‘No, of course not,’ said Pepper reassuringly. ‘Are you sure you’re all right? Tony said you left abruptly earlier.’

‘Yeah, well, tell him to stop discussing me behind my back,’ growled Jane.

‘I’m not telling him anything at the moment.’ Pepper’s voice was a little too sharp.

‘Right, sorry,’ said Jane quickly. ‘I didn’t mean- sorry.’

Pepper sighed. ‘Yes, me too. I know you didn’t mean that. But are you sure things are OK, Jane? Where are you? They said you’d driven off.’

‘Uh…’ Jane peered out of the car window to squint at a signpost. ‘Near a place called Seneca Falls,’ she said.

‘Oh, _Jane_ ,’ said Pepper. It was sympathetic and Jane wriggled uncomfortably as though Pepper were right there in front of her.

‘I’m fine,’ she repeated. ‘I just… I was not having a good day.’ She considered that statement to be fair, and decided not to dwell on it. ‘Can I come and see you tomorrow? I mean, Pepper Potts CEO, not just regular you.’

Pepper laughed at that. ‘I’m sure “Pepper Potts CEO” can find a few minutes in her schedule,’ she said. ‘When are you going to be here?’

‘Uh… nine?’ guessed Jane.

‘Jane, aren’t you five hours away?’

‘Four,’ corrected Jane. ‘And I won’t be sleeping much. Especially not if I get a motel now. It’s only ten. I always wake up at about four in the morning.’

‘Look, don’t become a traffic accident statistic. Get some rest. Take some Nyquil if you have to. I’m busy… from about three, but any time before that should be fine.’

‘Right, thanks,’ said Jane vaguely. She was pretty sure she didn’t need drugs making her brain fuzzy for driving. ‘See you tomorrow.’

‘Take care of yourself,’ said Pepper.

‘Thanks,’ she said shortly, and hung up. She hesitated for a moment then shot off a text to Darcy letting her know she was fine and would be back in the area the next day. Darcy’s reply was nothing more than a lot of thumbs-up emojis, but it made Jane smile just a little. 

Then, at last, she turned her car around and started to head back the way she’d come, peering out of the window for a motel with a roof and a Vacancy sign.

~*~

Pepper’s office at Stark Tower was clean, bright, and beautifully decorated, while still having comfortable couches. Pepper’s coffee was expensive and wonderful. Pepper’s secretary brought pastries and asked if either of them wanted a full breakfast. Pepper herself was in a beautiful blue dress, ridiculous stilettos, and looked perfect.

The best that could be said for Jane was that she’d at least showered at the motel she’d ended up at and put on a clean shirt. She wished she was a bit more like Pepper, who greeted her, unruffled and perfect, and made sure she was comfortable. 

‘Anyway, how can I help you?’ she said, once she’d coaxed Jane into eating two chocolate pastries and drinking some coffee.

‘The US Army’s got Mjolnir,’ said Jane. ‘I want access, and I want data.’

Pepper considered her evenly. ‘You have a plan?’ she asked.

‘Sort of,’ said Jane. ‘I don’t know what I’m looking for, but there has to be a reason Mjolnir is here. I’m hoping I can work it out, and it might help me.’

‘You know that it might come to nothing?’ asked Pepper. ‘You’re one of the smartest people I know, but do you really think you can tie energy emission readings and whatever else you can detect back to a reason for arrival?’

‘I don’t know,’ Jane admitted. ‘But I can’t just sit around and wait! It’s a question that needs answering, and it’s the only one I’ve got at the moment. Will you help me? Please?’

Pepper pressed her lips together and made a brief note on her pad. ‘We don’t have many contacts with the Army and the DoD any more,’ she said carefully. ‘I don’t know that I hold much sway there.’

‘But of everyone I know, you’re the only one I can think of who wouldn’t piss off Ross,’ Jane pointed out.

Lips twitching, Pepper didn’t disagree. ‘I’ll reach out,’ she said. ‘I’m sure if Stark Industries offers some help with their data, we can come to some arrangement. They might expect to share your results though.’

‘I’m sure they will,’ said Jane grimly. ‘It might come to nothing, like you said.’

‘Please don’t say any more,’ said Pepper with a sigh. ‘If I don’t hear it, I know nothing.’

Jane managed a laugh. ‘Thanks,’ she said at last, ducking her head and peering awkwardly at her shoes. ‘Really. I appreciate it. Especially after the whole satellite thing the other day.’

‘Don’t worry about that,’ said Pepper. ‘Although I reserve the right to call in a favour on some consultancy work in the future, once all this has blown over.’

‘Sure,’ said Jane. She quite liked working at Stark Industries, whether with Tony or some of their other scientists. She generally had a lot of free rein and a lot of budget, and she knew her work wouldn’t be turned into weapons, which was all she’d ever wanted.

‘Ms Potts, forgive the interruption,’ came Friday’s voice. ‘I thought you should see this.’

A screen on the wall, previously invisible, jumped into life. Images of a German news channel appeared, displaying amateur film of the streets of Berlin, with smoke and flames and fault lines. Jane didn’t speak enough German to follow the newscasters, but in between the jerky camera motions she could occasionally see Iron Man and War Machine.

‘Oh,’ she said quietly.

Pepper watched the screen in silence for a few minutes. At first Jane thought she was completely unrattled, but then she noticed the sudden whiteness of Pepper’s knuckles as she gripped her pen.

‘Thank you, Friday,’ she said eventually. ‘It looks as though they have the situation in hand.’

‘What is it?’ asked Jane.

‘Some form of terrorist attack,’ said Pepper. ‘The bombs appear to let out a gas that can’t be identified. Rhodey and- Tony will be fine in their suits, at least.’

‘It’s gotta be weird,’ said Jane hesitantly. She wasn’t sure Pepper wanted to talk about it. She was damn sure she didn’t want to talk about it, but it seemed polite.

‘Yes, it’s… strange,’ agreed Pepper. ‘Difficult. He’s still Tony. My feelings haven’t changed. I just needed some time away from it all. That’s just very difficult given the circumstances.’ Then she hesitated. ‘How is he?’

Jane gave the question its proper consideration. She had, after all, seen a lot of Tony over the past few months. ‘I think he’s OK,’ she said at last. ‘He’s not, like, getting drunk or picking up women or anything. He’s obviously still kinda broken up because he’s been super weird about me and Thor even before Thor vanished, and he’s been trying to set Darcy up with a bunch of people which is even weirder. But he’s getting better. He’s been spending a lot of time with Rhodey. He got the prosthetics working and he’s been going to all of Rhodey’s hospital appointments and helping with his physio and fussing like a mother hen.’

Pepper smiled sadly. ‘I am glad to hear it,’ she said. ‘I worried he wouldn’t- well, at times he was overwhelming,’ she admitted at last.

‘Right,’ said Jane dubiously. She was reaching her limits when it came to relationship talk.

Laughing, Pepper leaned back. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll let you get back to your lab,’ she said. ‘I’m just glad to hear that he’s all right, really. If he can figure out who he is and who Iron Man is, maybe there is yet hope.’

Jane frowned. ‘He is… Iron Man,’ she said at last. She thought she was missing something obvious.

‘He destroys the suits and rebuilds them about twice a year,’ said Pepper. ‘Iron Man I could just about cope with, broken promises were much harder to swallow.’

‘Right,’ said Jane again. She nodded. She wasn’t sure what Pepper was talking about.

Pepper, fortunately, sensed that once more. ‘I should let you get on, if you want,’ she said. ‘Unless you want some more coffee or pastries? Help yourself - I’ll never finish these.’

‘No, thanks, I’m good,’ said Jane. She wondered where she would go. To her lab at Stark Tower, perhaps. Or she could return to the Avengers facility and to Darcy.

Before she could decide, the TV footage - still playing dramatic images of Berlin - suddenly flickered and died. Pepper frowned. ‘Friday, is the TV all right?’ she asked.

There was silence.

Pepper picked up her cellphone. ‘Wifi signal is down.’ She pursed her lips. ‘Jane, given what I know about Stark Industries’ wifi and Friday’s security, we may be about to face a problem. I suggest you calmly evacuate the building.’

‘What are you going to do?’ asked Jane.

‘I think I had better investigate.’

‘Then I’m staying with you,’ said Jane. ‘I can fix wifi.’

Pepper moved back to her desk and swapped out her shoes for a set with heels that were slightly shorter. 

‘Don’t you have… running shoes?’ asked Jane, who was wearing her usual boots, which didn’t have any heel to them at all. She had no idea how Pepper did it.

‘If you think I can’t run in these, Jane, you’re sorely mistaken,’ she said, with a smile. ‘Besides, if I exit this building in anything else, US Weekly will publish something about how I’m falling apart and turning to alcohol without Tony. I don’t know how they would make that connection between flats and substance abuse, but they would.’

Jane wrinkled her nose as she followed Pepper out of the office. That was probably true. She herself got media attention when Thor was hanging around and that was bad enough (especially the one tabloid that had used the headline ‘Queen of the Nerds: Thor’s Ex Scoops Top Science Prize’, which was on her personal most-hated list).

Pepper strode into a darkened room down the corridor, Maria and a couple of underlings were trying to fix a bank of monitors that were only displaying white noise.

Maria looked up on Pepper’s entry. ‘You should evacuate,’ she said straight away.

‘I’m starting to think the whole building should,’ said Pepper.

‘Our systems are down,’ said Maria. ‘We can’t trigger the alarm. We don’t even know what the problem is. We’re trying to fix it, but this problem is from the inside.’

‘We still have the analogue systems,’ said Pepper. ‘This is what they were built for.’ She ducked around a bank of screens, followed by Jane and Maria. At the back of the room was a huge plan of the building, floor by floor. It took up an entire wall, and each floor was dotted with LEDs of various colours. On floor fourteen, a cluster of the LEDs glowed a warning red. Pepper pursed her lips. ‘Looks like a problem in the Experimental EM Lab,’ she said. ‘I think I know…’ She paused and turned to the others. ‘Maria, you and your team get the building evacuated. Quickly. Set off the manual fire alarms and check each floor.’

‘Done,’ said Maria. ‘And I’m starting here: you two need to get out.’

‘We will,’ assured Pepper, as she gestured for Maria to head off.

‘What can I do?’ asked Jane, once Maria had left.

‘Computer servers are stored on the basement level,’ said Pepper. ‘If you can reboot the system and get Friday back online, she can shut off areas of the building to prevent the spread of fire or… people.’

‘You think it’s people, then?’

‘Come on,’ said Pepper, pulling on her arm. They left the security room, and as they did the fire alarms started to go off. In the absence of Friday, the lift was out of bounds, and they made for the stairs. Jane did not relish the thought of running down dozens of floors to the basement, but sighed. Fighting probable-supervillainy always seemed to involve a lot of running.

‘Where are you going?’ she asked Pepper, as they began to hurry downwards, pushing through groups of people starting to emerge from their floors, confused and harried, complaining about work to do and trying to go back to collect coats or laptops. The sight of their CEO hurtling past them in three inch stilettos did at least spur some people to start moving a bit faster.

‘I’m going to floor fourteen,’ said Pepper.

Jane nearly said something sarcastic but found she was already panting for breath. ‘I’m messaging Tony,’ she said at last. ‘Once we stop-’ She gestured vaguely towards the running.

‘Good,’ said Pepper. ‘We’re going to need him.’


	6. The Rest of Us Just Live Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane Foster has got enough on her plate, what with being a full time researcher, giving lectures, applying for grants, writing books, and consulting for Stark Industries. When Thor drops off the face of the universe and leaves her on Earth with no clues as to where he is, she doesn’t know what to do or how to find him.
> 
> Then an attack on Stark Industries changes everything, and she finds herself getting thrown into a life that she’s previously only watched from the sidelines, and where getting punched through a wall is suddenly just an average day of the week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys - just to flag there's a short description violence and blood mentions in this chapter. It's not super extended or graphic, but I know that bugs some people, so a heads up.

Jane and Pepper continued to elbow their way through groups of Stark Industries employees as they descended down the tower. Jane gave up trying to talk and just concentrated on breathing and not falling. At the fourteenth floor Pepper peeled off to the door that led back into the building.

‘Get out as soon as you can,’ she told Jane.

Jane continued downwards, through the sparser crowds. At the bottom of the building, nearly everyone had already evacuated. It made running easier.

Finally, windows in the stairwell disappeared as she started to go underground. She staggered out of the staircase and leaned against the wall for a moment, panting desperately in the cool, dark corridor. The fire alarm still rung, the shrillness filling the empty air. Down there, there was nobody: they’d all long-since evacuated. 

Jane pulled her phone from her pocket and dialled into the Avengers’ secure network. Even down here, and even with the tower systems offline, it worked. Tony had put a lot of work into that network.

‘Little busy here!’ came a strained greeting from Tony.

‘There’s a problem at Stark Tower,’ said Jane.

‘Pepper?’

‘She thinks it’s a someone, not something. She’s trying to talk them down.’

There was silence.

‘You go,’ said Rhodey’s voice at last. ‘T’Challa is twenty minutes out, and Vision will be here in forty-five. I can hold us until then.’

‘Rhodey-’

‘Hurry up and leave before I change my mind!’ said Rhodey.

‘I’m in the basement of the tower, trying to reboot Friday,’ said Jane. ‘Pepper’s on the fourteenth floor.’

‘It’s gonna take me some time to get there,’ said Tony through gritted teeth. 

‘She’ll be fine,’ said Jane automatically. ‘Friday, can you download what I need to reboot you to my phone?’

The portion of Friday’s mind in Tony’s suit responded speedily. ‘Certainly, Dr Foster, but I’ll have to cut your audio to make full use of this connection.’

‘Do it,’ said Jane.

The sound vanished. She put her phone back into her pocket carefully and stepped forward into the empty basement.

She’d been down here before, of course. Computers weren’t her speciality but she was very good at both hardware and software building - a necessity caused by years of doing her own thing - so she was good enough. They were also one of the many areas where her and Tony’s knowledge overlapped, so he’d shown her around. Thor had accompanied them once and had been very polite, but when pressed had admitted to an extremely irritated Tony that he found the system very old-fashioned. She smiled sadly as she trekked forwards, entirely alone. She did miss those days.

As she let herself into the largest of the server rooms - with a silent whoop that her ID card still worked - she became aware that something was wrong. The black boxes towered over her, bleak and inhuman, as though she were unwelcome. She tried to pin down what had changed, why the chill and the dark were suddenly against her, willing her to leave. Normally she felt at home there, surrounded by some of the best machines on the planet.

Rubbing her arms, trying not to shiver, she stepped forward, into the murky shadows of the servers, trying to ignore her misgivings. Friday’s brain lived in another room through several more secure doors. She had to go forward.

The already narrow rows between the servers seemed to press in on her as she went on, dampening all sound except the thump of her heart and the shriek of the alarm. Every shadow that moved was suddenly an oncoming attacker, sending her heart racing. Even the air conditioning seemed to be blowing into her face, pushing her backwards. She told herself she needed to get a grip on her imagination, pinched her arm, and continued forward faster.

Then she rounded a corner and the air changed. No longer the simple, clean cold smell of plastic and metal. Not even the stale coffee and sandwiches and sweat that would fill the lived-in corners of this room. Instead it was a warm, coppery smell, instantly familiar and instantly raising her hackles.

Heart in her throat, she moved forward again, this time slowly, stopping at the edge of one of the towers and peering around the side, holding her breath. She gasped without thinking, frozen in place at the scene she now faced, bile rising in her throat as she desperately fought the desire to vomit.

This side of the room had a mixture of desks and regular server towers. A man - not older than thirty - had been crushed into the side of a server tower, the box warped around his ragdoll body, his arms and legs bent out and backwards. Even in the low light, she could see his skin was burned red. His head hung still, features obscured, but blood dripped from his body, pooling on the floor. Jane watched, transfixed, as a drop gathered on his lifeless fingertip before breaking free and descending into the dark puddle at his feet.

Gagging, with a full body shudder, she forced her eyes away: forced them back to the others. The cry of the alarm had stopped her from realising she wasn’t alone in the server room. There were a group of six technicians and staff, ranging from a kid who looked barely eighteen to an elderly woman wielding a hefty flashlight. None of them had noticed her.

The reason for that was the… _thing_. It was roughly the shape of a human, but bigger, glowing green and hunched over. It held one of the younger men by the neck, raising him high in the air. His hands were blistered and burnt where he fought the creature, his mouth opening and closing. 

Jane was frozen, helpless as she watched. Tony was still at least at least an hour out and besides, her phone was out of commission. 

_She should run._ The thought felt treacherous, but true. She was just a human. It was quite clear that she couldn’t do anything to stop this thing. She should run and fetch the army and let them deal with it.

The kid trapped in its grip managed a scream that pierced even the alarm.

Jane strode forward, grabbed a half-empty mug of coffee and hefted it at the monster.

‘HEY!’ she yelled. ‘Back off!’ The thing seemed to _jump_ , its grip on the kid loosening as it struggled to turn. Speed evidently wasn’t its strong point. She reached for someone’s thermos and chucked that, then grabbed a desk fan - briefly marvelling that someone needed a fan in the freezing server room - darting forward to make sure she was close enough to hit.

The creature was distracted, and the older woman of the group hit its arm with the flashlight she held, surprising it for long enough that the others pulled the boy from its grasp. It almost _roared_ , but in its partial turn Jane had begun to realise its face was oddly human and she gaped.

The others were still cornered though and now the boy had escaped, it had remembered them again. It turned back to focus on them.

‘I said HEY!’ yelled Jane again. This time dashing forward, grabbing a computer monitor and hefting it with all her power. Next went someone’s reference book collection, hurled one at a time, smacking into the side of the creature with satisfying thumps. 

It screamed at her and began to lurch towards her.

It may have been slow to turn, but moving in one direction it was faster. Not agile, just determined, its face a caricature of a human, twisted beyond all possibility. Jane grabbed a fire extinguisher and lobbed that too. The heavy weight meant it hit lower than she’d hoped, on one of the thing’s legs. It stumbled only slightly and continued towards her.

The others were no longer crowded in a corner. The older woman began to shove her charges forward and away, into the computer towers and, hopefully, to escape. She, last of all, hesitated, eyes on Jane.

‘Just go!’ yelled Jane, stumbling backwards, hunting along the wall for something else to throw. Now she was alone with the creature, and she was running out of ammunition. 

At last, it seemed to realise she’d helped its prey escape and it doubled down on its speed, its shouts and roars sending a chill through Jane’s bones. 

She turned and ran.

‘ _Never look back until you’ve been trained in running while looking backwards,_ ’ Natasha had told her once. Jane had been sarcastic about the idea of training then, but she did her best to always follow Natasha’s advice on every subject. Looking back meant slowing down, or bumping into things. Instead: look forward and go forward. Jane did exactly that, swerving desperately around a corner into one of the corridors of server units.

As she was running, she realised the towers next to her were rocking. Panicking, the sudden realisation of what was happening kicked in. She pushed herself to speed up but she was already desperately out of breath, lungs burning.

Then the row of server towers came crashing down like dominoes.

She fell with them, under them, trapped beneath them, legs burning and ribs cracked and lungs too compressed. She couldn’t breathe… she couldn’t… 

She must have passed out for a moment. When the server tower was pulled off her by the creature she was conscious again. She gasped for breath, but her chest was barely moving even as she tried and she struggled to think of anything. She couldn’t move. She could barely breathe. She stared up as the creature, each inhale a battle.

The world was just starting to slide out of focus when it picked her up by her neck. Her whole body screamed, one arm already hanging useless and unmoveable at her side. A numbness had begun to envelop her. Jane closed her eyes. At least the others had escaped. At least Thor wasn’t going to come rushing in and see her like this.

The last thing she was conscious of was being thrown through the air.


	7. Practical Business Negotiation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane Foster has got enough on her plate, what with being a full time researcher, giving lectures, applying for grants, writing books, and consulting for Stark Industries. When Thor drops off the face of the universe and leaves her on Earth with no clues as to where he is, she doesn’t know what to do or how to find him.
> 
> Then an attack on Stark Industries changes everything, and she finds herself getting thrown into a life that she’s previously only watched from the sidelines, and where getting punched through a wall is suddenly just an average day of the week.

There was a light. Funny, she’d never expected an actual light. She’d never expected anything.

It surrounded her and burned the inside of her eyelids, flickering and filling her with warmth. She was safe and she was protected and nothing seemed to hurt. Instead the brightness coursed through her, knitting bones and mending lungs and regenerating blood. If this was death then she’d never felt more alive. 

She opened her eyes to a cocoon of lightning surrounding her, and a hammer in one hand. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

Then the lightning died away, sparking around the hammer before vanishing. She was still in the server room, broken and collapsed server towers surrounding her. She’d landed in one, like the man she’d seen earlier, but as she peeled herself out of her resting spot, she came away clean and whole. Her own blood was on the metal, on the floor, but she was doing fine without it.

She was… taller. She looked down at herself, which only created more questions: she was wearing _armour_. A breastplate protected her torso, vambraces on her arms, and she reached behind herself to find a scarlet cloak. On her head she wore a helmet that descended over her eyes, covering and protecting them. The whole ensemble was light and comfortable and despite parts of her arms being exposed, she no longer felt chilled.

‘Thor, you’ve got a lot of explaining to do,’ she managed at last. Her voice sounded _different_. ‘Oh my god what.’ She cleared her throat. ‘Hello?’ Her voice still sounded weird. ‘OK, Jane, questions later. Superheroics first, I guess?’

Mjolnir seemed to hum in approval.

Her attacker was lurching up the stairs. As she ran, the fire alarms _finally_ shrieked their last as the power to the entire building died. Above ground as she now was, light streamed in through the windows. Even that didn’t totally mask the creature’s green glow, a few floors above her. Then the emergency lighting kicked in and coloured everything blood-red.

‘Hey, buddy, you missed a spot!’ she yelled up to the creature. 

It turned to her, almost growling. She threw Mjolnir without thinking. It sung through the air, path curving up to smack the creature squarely in its terrible, twisted face, knocking it helplessly backwards and out of sight. Mjolnir descended again, gliding smoothly into her waiting hand even as she’d begun once more to run up the stairs.

When she reached it, the creature was scrambling to its ungainly feet again, reaching out for her with a scream. Its touch no longer burned, instead it was slightly… itchy. The creature didn’t seem to expect Jane’s non-reaction and pulled back. Jane watched, fascinated, as the pink mark on her arm faded right before her eyes.

Then she looked up at the creature. It looked at her. It looked _scared_.

Mjolnir crackled in her hands. She knew what to do. She couldn’t say how she knew but she did. She could feel a roar of lightning under her skin, flowing through her and then out of her, through Mjolnir and into her enemy. The creature briefly left out one final scream before it toppled backwards.

Silence followed. Jane let out a breath.

‘Well,’ she said to herself. There didn’t seem to be much else to say.

Outside the window she could hear noises, and she glanced out to see the armed forces and police had set up a perimeter. Crowds of Stark Industries employees huddled just outside of it, being herded away by people in a variety of uniforms.

Far above Jane’s head, she thought she heard a crash.

She ran, again, taking the stairs two or three at a time without losing a single breath. Even once she reached the fourteenth floor she didn’t hesitate in ploughing onwards without stopping, marvelling at her own lung capacity as she did. Superpowers were _awesome_. No wonder Thor was so damn cheerful all the time.

Jane followed the noises. They came, not from the lab itself, but from one of the offices beside it. After a moment she realised Pepper was _talking_. She slipped into the office, lurking behind a bookcase and peering through the gap between it and a whiteboard. This was not a very superhero thing to do, she acknowledged to herself, but Pepper sounded pretty calm and it would be stupid to cause trouble.

Trouble was already there, albeit in its calmed form. There were three more of the green creatures. Two hulking and awkward and misshapen, like the one she’d fought. The third was still badly inhuman, but not quite as much as the others. It was he whom Pepper was addressing.

‘-with HR, Dr Webber,’ she said. ‘Given your work for us, I’m sure they could have adjusted your compensation package.’ She was standing in front of a small group of other employees, firmly blocking his route to either them or the exit.

Jane blinked. 

‘Don’t think I haven’t seen the documents!’ snarled the monster that apparently had been Dr Webber. ‘You pay that bitch Elodie Thomas far more than you’ll ever pay me.’

‘Dr Thomas’s salary is irrelevant to your own achievements,’ said Pepper soothingly. ‘I can only apologise that you’ve been so overlooked. Of course we’ll change that right away.’

‘As if I’d trust you! You sleep your way to CEO and then destroy everything I’ve worked so hard for. Don’t think I haven’t noticed your pet security guards checking up on me. Don’t think I haven’t seen the recommendations. You think I’m unstable! Irrational! Incapable of-’

Pepper let out a yelp and jumped backwards as he lurched forward. 

Jane shoved the bookcase out of the way and emerged into the mess before Pepper could get hurt. ‘Well she has a point,’ she said. ‘You’re acting pretty unstable right now.’ The room turned to stare at her. ‘I stopped your little friend downstairs,’ she told Webber. ‘Who wants to go next?’ She was pretty sure it was Mjolnir that was doing the talking.

WIthout waiting for an answer, she swung and threw Mjolnir, sending Webber flying backwards, away from Pepper. He hit a wall, which smashed on impact, and fell into the room beyond. Mjolnir returned to her hands, warm and right in her grip.

‘Who the hell _are_ you?’ demanded one of the men Pepper had been shielding.

Jane glanced at Pepper but didn’t encounter any recognition. She supposed another foot of height plus her face being hidden and voice changing probably obscured enough Jane Foster.

‘I’m… Thor,’ she said, because her brain didn’t present her with any alternative. ‘Temporarily. While the other guy’s indisposed.’

The other creatures roared and made for her. She jumped further away from the rest of the humans, ducking down as a large, green fist went for her. The monster punched its friend, who howled. Jane grinned. 

She raised her arm, this time aiming. If she could beat a monster through a wall, she could certainly beat one through a window. She swung Mjolnir round, gaining momentum, waiting until just the right moment to release her hand and-

The window shattered under the impact from a large green supervillain. Arms flailing momentarily, the creature fell from sight. She’d have to hope the fourteen-storey drop was enough. If not, though, the army were there. 

She turned back to the other creature, who’d reached forward to grab at her. She punched him, even as Mjolnir sped back to her, beaming as he staggered and fell backwards. This was _amazing_. She reached back, swung Mjolnir and he flew in a beautiful arc across the office before crashing into a set of desks and crumpling them.

Pepper suddenly shouted.

Jane swung around, Mjolnir raised.

‘Stop right there,’ snarled Webber. He was holding Pepper in front of him beside the now open window. Her face was twisted in pain. ‘Move one inch and out she goes.’


	8. The Elements of Style

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane Foster has got enough on her plate, what with being a full time researcher, giving lectures, applying for grants, writing books, and consulting for Stark Industries. When Thor drops off the face of the universe and leaves her on Earth with no clues as to where he is, she doesn’t know what to do or how to find him.
> 
> Then an attack on Stark Industries changes everything, and she finds herself getting thrown into a life that she’s previously only watched from the sidelines, and where getting punched through a wall is suddenly just an average day of the week.

Jane froze. _Fuck._ She’d been so busy with the others she’d forgotten- And now- A cold panic settled through her for the first time. How had she thought she could be a superhero? She hadn’t got a clue what she was doing. If she’d remembered- if she’d thought to look-

Pepper leaned forward, raised one foot, and kicked backwards, sending three inches of perfect Louboutin stiletto between Webber’s legs. He screamed. The two remaining male Stark Industries employees winced.

Then, almost in slow motion, Webber staggered backwards out of the window, pulling Pepper with him.

Jane threw herself after them. She didn’t need to do the math. Fourteen storeys was not a long fall. She had seconds. She also had no idea how to fly.

Mjolnir pulled her faster than falling, catching up with Pepper and Webber near-instantly. Webber was still conscious, and furious, reaching for Pepper even as the ground loomed. Jane grabbed Pepper with one arm, kicked out at Webber, sending him flying away, and had a tiny screaming moment of panic before the same knowledge that brought her lightning kicked in and up they soared.

‘Ohmygod,’ she spat out.

Pepper let out a small scream.

Jane felt for the pull of Mjolnir again and let them descend, then released it. They dropped the remaining few feet to the ground. Pepper didn’t let go of her neck or open her eyes until Jane nudged her backwards.

‘We’re good,’ she said.

‘Oh,’ said Pepper shakily. She stood back. Her face was white and mouth gaping open. Jane was now a couple of inches taller than her, even though she was still wearing her heels. _Weird._ Pepper smoothed down her dress, gasping in air and one hand still clutching Jane's arm almost subconsciously.

Jane glanced out to the perimeter. Police and soldiers were in stunned silence, but a few of them seemed to be shaking out of it, looking to their commanders. Beyond them she could see a crowd of people, some with phones already raised. Of course.

Movement in the corner of her eye distracted her and she turned just in time to see someone in a red and blue costume send some white webbing towards the broken remains of Webber, presumably pinning him to the ground in case he somehow survived. Jane frowned, before remembering the spider-kid, and did her best not to roll her eyes when the police turned on him and made threatening motions. As he swung away, Jane thought he sent her a salute.

‘What the _hell_?’ said Pepper at last. ‘Who _are_ you? What just happened?’

‘You probably should have fired that guy a while ago,’ said Jane. Her voice came out a little shaky. The adrenaline was starting to desert her. 

Then the Army commander ordered her to stand down and await for further instructions.

‘Gotta go!’ she told Pepper. ‘My planet needs me!’

She swung Mjolnir again, reaching upwards for the sky and feeling her feet leave the ground as she was pulled amazingly upwards, laughing to herself at Pepper’s dropped jaw.

~*~

The clouds soon covered her, because she wanted them to, and she ran her hands through grey-white mist that swirled around her, cool against her skin, but not uncomfortable. She could feel the water in them, she realised: the way the molecules moved and crashed into each other and _waited_. This cloud wasn’t ready yet. It needed more water. Although if she just gave it a bit of a _nudge_...

Below her, she felt the rain start to fall and she laughed joyfully. Then, remembering the crowds, she abruptly cut the rain off again. Half the people evacuating didn’t have a coat, after all. She felt a pocket of warm air a mile away and gently prodded it in the direction of Stark Tower. Slowly did it. As long as she stayed slow and small, the rest of the sky smiled on her. Too much, too fast and she’d need to give more than she could and risk instability elsewhere.

She stared ahead again, at the hammer soaring forward and pulling her along after it. Why had Mjolnir come to her? Well, she knew nearly dying was a Thor-like thing, but she didn’t know why her out of everyone else on the planet. Had Thor sent it? Did it recognise her in some way? And why Puente Antiguo, of all places? Perhaps that last one she could answer with enough studying: perhaps it was following a path it remembered. Certain areas did seem more predisposed towards natural bridges forming, after all.

That still didn’t tell her why _her_.

Resigning herself to not knowing that, at least not yet, she turned her focus back to the present. 

Up and up she flew, the clouds giving way to empty sky, to more clouds, and finally emptiness once more. The air was thinner here. She could feel that, _sense_ it, but it didn’t hurt her. She breathed and was fine. Grinning, she twisted in circles, looped around, briefly tailed a 747, and then turned her sights upwards once more. How high could she go?

Mjolnir was still warm in her hands. Even up here, the rest of her was comfortable and not cold. How did Thor ever _stop_ flying? How could he make himself _not_ use his magic? This was wonderful.

Eventually, she turned back to see the curve of the Earth behind her, shining, golden sun in the distance. It should have been blinding. Instead it was just bright. Far beneath her, the blanket of clouds spread out over the north east of the US, and then in front of her the beautiful, perfect blue of the North Atlantic. 

‘Oh my god.’ The words tumbled from her lips as she smiled into the sunlight. She could see the _world_. 

Eventually, reality set in. Pepper would be wondering what had happened to her. The Avengers would be freaking out about a new Thor. Darcy would be worrying. Thor - her Thor - would probably still be absent and now she had Mjolnir she could better look for him. She should go back to Earth. Then later she would fly again.

She dropped into a steep dive, following Mjolnir down faster and faster, wondering how fast she could go, how many Gs of force should could survive. She could test that later. First, though, she had things to deal with.

~*~

She landed in the driveway of her house with a thump and a whoop of glee, leaving behind two deep impressions from her boots in the gravel. Her housekeys were in her… other pants. Wherever they were. Some alternate dimension, possibly. She regarded her armour and tutted, then reached for the extra keys she kept hidden in a lockbox disguised as some piping.

The house had shrunk. Or rather, of course, she’d grown. But she suddenly felt tall and clunky inside her own space. It was strange. She put down Mjolnir on the coffee table, but nothing changed. She was still Thor. Frowning, she thought back to when she’d talked to Thor about his being about to summon or remove his armour with magic. “ _It’s like putting on a cloak,_ ” he’d said, although she knew he’d not liked the comparison much. He always found it difficult to explain his magic in the precise way she wanted. She took a deep breath and shut her eyes, feeling for the edges of the metaphorical cloak and tugging and-

She was small again. The house was the correct size. She looked down at herself and was reminded forcibly of what she’d faced: her shirt was ripped to shreds and covered in dried blood. Her entire body _ached_. It wasn’t, at least, broken. Just bruised and burned - a glance in a mirror showed her pink burn marks around her throat from where the monster had grabbed her and she winced, inspecting the damage gently.

Even though it hurt to breathe, she was alive, and she was still Jane Foster.

Turning back to Mjolnir, she reached down and picked it up. Nothing immediately changed - her arm was still blistered underneath the rips of her shirt and her nails were still broken. She felt again for the edge of the cloak, felt the magic roll over her, and felt the aches and pains recede.

When she opened her eyes she was in her armour again. She put down Mjolnir once more and inspected the vambraces on her arms. The whole ensemble was surprisingly comfortable. No wonder Thor wore his so much. It fit her body perfectly, didn’t weigh her down, and was neither too hot nor too cold. 

She looked down at Mjolnir. ‘Like… _why_?’ she asked it.

Then she noticed the runes around the top. Runes she’d never really clocked before, let alone been able to read.

_Whosoever holds this hammer, if she be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor_

‘That does not answer any of my questions,’ she told Mjolnir grumpily. ‘I feel like it didn’t say that before, though.’

‘Jane- I heard something- Is that you? Pepper said you- Holy shit who the _hell_ are you?’ Darcy had run in, clutching her phone, features white.

‘Hi,’ said Jane weakly.

‘Wait, Pepper said there was a lady Thor. You’re not… I don’t know, some reincarnation or something? You’re not our Thor, are you?’

‘No, I’m not, I’m-’

‘Then how are you here? Jesus does every Norse god just run to Jane? Is there a poster in Asgard? “This woman will give you food if you talk about space.”’

‘ _Darcy_!’

Darcy blinked and shut her mouth.

‘It’s me,’ said Jane at last. ‘Hang on. Don’t freak out.’ She shed the cloak of Thor again, easier and easier this time, and looked at Darcy as Jane.

‘Holy _shit_ oh my god what the oh my _god_!’

‘Yeah,’ agreed Jane. That really summed it up.

‘Can you go back?’

‘Sure,’ said Jane, and did.

Darcy walked up, slowly. As she approached, Jane realised how much taller she was than her friend - nearly a foot. ‘Holy shit,’ said Darcy again. ‘Dang, you look good. Not that you didn’t before, but look at those guns.’ She whistled. Jane blinked and turned to looked at herself in the mirror. It wasn’t her arm muscles that distracted her though - it was her hair.

‘Wait, I’m _blonde_?’ she said.

‘Uh, did you not know?’

‘No! This only happened, like, an hour ago! I haven’t seen myself!’ 

She approached the mirror and Darcy followed her. Her hair was long, blonde and had the sort of lustrous shine that Thor’s had and that she’d always thought was patently absurd and unreal as well as gorgeous, on Thor at least. Her jawline was familiar enough to her own, and she tried out a smile and a frown. Then she pulled off her helmet.

‘Yo,’ said Darcy. ‘You’ve gone full Norse God.’

‘My eyes are _blue_ ,’ said Jane stupidly. The helmet had concealed them. ‘What the-’

‘It’s a bit creepy. I mean, I’d still tap that - you look like a prettier version of Thor after all - but it’s weird.’

Jane tried to consider her face objectively, but found she couldn’t. It was thoroughly weird. It still looked mostly like hers, aggressively Thor-like colouring aside, but the proportions had changed slightly to match the fact that she was now at least six feet tall. The blue eyes were what really made it surreal. She tilted her head, and her reflection tilted too, but her brain wasn’t quite accepting this was her.

Darcy poked her upper arm. ‘Dude, you’re like a rock,’ she said. ‘You’re like _the_ Rock. This is awesome. Can you pick me up?’

‘I mean, probably?’ said Jane, not sure if Darcy was asking her to do it.

‘Hold out your arm.’ Jane did as asked. Darcy reached up, grabbed Jane’s arm and then lifted her feet off the ground. For a moment she hung there, ridiculously. Jane blinked. She could feel the weight of her friend, but it wasn’t heavy. It was fine. She lifted her arm up, and Darcy yelped and let go. ‘Dude,’ she said again. ‘This is awesome. What did I feel like?’

‘Not very heavy,’ said Jane, dropping her arm back to her side.

‘Best answer ever!’ said Darcy. ‘Can you lift up your car? Wait, where is your car?’

‘Uh, Stark Tower,’ said Jane. ‘I flew here.’

‘ _Awesome_ ,’ said Darcy.

Jane reached to remove her breastplate to further study herself in the mirror. She’d grown taller, but wider and stronger too. Her breasts were a bit bigger, but not, to her relief, disproportionately so. Like Thor, she had a thin vest on under her armour, but underneath that some form of breast binder or Asgardian-style sports bra. 

‘Do you have a six pack?’ asked Darcy. ‘I bet you’re totally shredded.’

‘I’m not getting all my clothes off for your curiosity,’ said Jane.

Darcy pouted, but poked her belly anyway. It was not particularly squishy. ‘You should go into weight lifting,’ she said. ‘Or cage fighting! You'd win against everyone.”

‘I’m pretty sure alien enhancements don’t count as very sporting,’ said Jane.

They stood and studied Jane in the mirror for a few moments longer before Darcy spoke again. ‘Did you see… do you know anything more about, you know, our Thor?’

‘No, I-’ Jane broke off and sighed. ‘This is separate,’ she said. ‘This is like… Vision picking up Mjolnir.’ She didn’t know how she knew that, but she was certain of it nonetheless.

‘So you’re, like, _Worthy_?’ said Darcy, wrinkling her nose.

‘I guess?’ said Jane helplessly.

‘What did you do?’

‘Uh… nearly died to help a bunch of Stark employees.’

Darcy sighed and turned back to considering both of their reflections. ‘Yeah, that sounds like it would do it,’ she said at last, shaking her head slightly. She paused. ‘What’s it like?’

Jane thought back to her last hour or so - to fighting monsters and running without losing her breath and saving people and flying up into the Earth’s atmosphere - and grinned. ‘It’s the most amazing thing ever.’


	9. Cards on the Table

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane Foster has got enough on her plate, what with being a full time researcher, giving lectures, applying for grants, writing books, and consulting for Stark Industries. When Thor drops off the face of the universe and leaves her on Earth with no clues as to where he is, she doesn’t know what to do or how to find him.
> 
> Then an attack on Stark Industries changes everything, and she finds herself getting thrown into a life that she’s previously only watched from the sidelines, and where getting punched through a wall is suddenly just an average day of the week.

Darcy texted Pepper and Tony both to reassure them that Jane was OK. ‘Just tell them I crushed my phone in the evacuation or something,’ Jane had told her before she’d gone to, as Jane, shower and change. She needed to see the Avengers and after something like this, it seemed likely Ross would be lurking, so she was going as herself. She was taking Mjolnir though. In her rucksack. Which Mjolnir consented to be held by.

She dug out a turtleneck to cover the healing burn marks on her throat and arms, and briefly became Thor to make it about ten degrees colder to justify her choice. She was pretty sure that counted as toeing a line, but the chill in the air was just around the corner so all she’d done was bring it forward a bit. Then they got into Darcy’s car and set out. 

At the Avengers’ facility, she and Darcy found a mild chaos all around them. The front end staff were organising logistics with the help of some people from Stark Industries - she saw Maria instructing a group of minions - and she heard phone conversations about medical supplies, other Stark Industries facilities, and insurance. They made their way through, largely ignored, to the more private section of the facility, where the Avengers lived and trained.

Tony and Pepper were both there, Pepper still in the same dress but with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Rhodey, Vision, T’Challa, and a boy who she assumed was Peter Parker in the flesh had also made their way there. As she entered, Tony, still in the Iron Man suit, raised his arm and aimed the repulsor beam at her and Darcy.

‘Er, hi to you too,’ said Darcy.

‘How do I know you’re the real you?’ demanded Tony.

‘Tony,’ said Pepper, ‘stop being ridiculous.’

‘They could be shape-shifters. You don’t know. Someone tried to kill you. I’m not letting just anyone in here.’

‘The attack on the tower wasn’t anything to do with shapeshifters,’ Jane pointed out.

‘And how do you know that?’ he demanded.

She folded her arms.

‘Right, yes, you were there,’ said Tony. He coughed.

‘Tony, get out of the suit,’ said Pepper.

‘But-’

‘Out. Now.’

Pepper’s tone brooked no argument. He complied.

Pepper reached forward and hugged him. Tony froze on the spot momentarily, surprise written clear across his face. Then he grabbed Pepper back and clutched her tightly and Jane thought she saw his shoulders shaking. Remembering Pepper’s near-death experience, she suddenly realised Tony wasn’t the only one needing comfort. Jane turned away, back to the others.

Rhodey was still looking at Tony and Pepper with a bit of a smile. 

‘How was Berlin?’ she asked him, T’Challa, and Vision.

‘It’s all under control now,’ said Rhodey.

‘We contained the bombs and the bombers and left them with the German authorities,’ explained T’Challa. ‘Then the news from New York had already filtered through. You know, I suppose?’

‘About the attack?’ said Jane. Darcy discreetly elbowed her.

‘About the woman who called herself Thor,’ continued T’Challa.

‘Ah, right! Yeah! I know! Of course I know. Sorry, it’s been a hell of a day.’ T’Challa frowned. ‘Well it’s not _my_ Thor,’ continued Jane. ‘So I’m glad she was there, but it doesn’t get me closer to mine.’

‘Tony you’re crushing my lungs,’ said Pepper at last. 

‘Right, sorry, I-’

‘And if you stop fussing for thirty minutes, I’ll take you out to dinner.’

‘Done,’ said Tony with alacrity. He turned to the group. ‘Why are we standing around? Don’t we have a superhero to find?’

‘Sir, Secretary Ross’s chopper is just touching down,’ came Friday’s voice.

‘Oh, that’s just what my afternoon needed,’ said Tony sarcastically. ‘We’ll go to the conference room.’ He glanced at Pepper. ‘Are you coming? Or do you need to work?’

‘I’d better come along,’ said Pepper. ‘I assume he’ll want to know what I saw. And Jane, you too.’

‘Ugh,’ said Jane, on principle.

Ten minutes later they were all seated. Jane was exhausted and still aching all over. Even though being Thor seemed to have helped stop her regular self from dying and heal all the big problems, her bruises and the burns were still making themselves known to her. It was much more comfortable to be in her Asgardian-superwoman form, but that was hardly an option then and there. So she got a seat at the back, a large mug of steaming coffee, and sat in silence, waiting to be asked for input.

‘What was the attack?’ demanded Ross at last, once the preliminaries had been dealt with.

‘A small group of disenchanted employees,’ replied Pepper. ‘Their leader - a radiation expert called Charles Webber - came across an effect very similar to the transformation the Hulk undergoes. They used it to attack Stark Tower.’

‘Did your people not spot them?’ demanded Ross. ‘If Stark Industries is going to hand technology to any old madman then maybe we need to investigate your handling of this business.’

Tony bristled, but Pepper gave Ross a very polite look. ‘Our psychological evaluation process is extensive for all of our high ability employees,’ she said smoothly. ‘Webber had recently been flagged as a potential risk, and had a member of our security team posing as an intern in his laboratory. Unfortunately events moved rather faster than we anticipated. I’m sure you know, Mr Secretary, it’s impossible to be one hundred percent certain when dealing with an organisation of this size.’

‘That’s how you knew it was him!’ said Jane suddenly.

Pepper nodded. ‘I didn’t know for certain, but I thought, given the probabilities, he might be involved. So I decided I should at least try and talk him out of it.’

‘So you went chasing after a man you _knew_ was a lunatic?’ demanded Tony.

‘It’s almost like I’m surrounded by people who set that exact example,’ said Pepper in a tone so mild it instantly rang alarm bells. Tony opened his mouth but, wisely, in Jane’s opinion, changed his mind and shut it again.

‘Stark, you abandoned your post in Berlin without prior authorisation,’ said Ross abruptly. ‘I understand you had personal concerns, but-’

‘Understand?’ blurted out Tony, disbelieving. Then, to Jane’s surprise, he didn’t punch Ross. Instead he took a breath. ‘It’s a good thing the Accords are primarily concerned with where I’m allowed to act, not forcing me _to_ act,’ he said at last. ‘In fact, uh, remind me the reference, Friday, that specifically designates the Avengers as humans - or similar - who may be called upon to aid by the UN, but may also take personal time?’

‘That would be article five, amendment fourteen of the Accords, sir,’ said Friday.

‘I know that was specifically added in so T’Challa can run a country in his spare time,’ said Tony, ‘but I feel like we all deserve an occasional vacation.’

‘Nonetheless you were not authorised to act on United States soil-’

‘As per article three, sections eight to ten, the Avengers are entitled to use their abilities without prior authorisation in certain situations,’ interjected Pepper. ‘One of these being on their own private property. Possibly this was devised with training in mind, but nonetheless Stark Tower remains partially Tony’s private property.’

‘Don’t forget article six, discussing the specific actions of the Avengers,’ said Tony.

‘Oh yes,’ said Pepper. ‘Are you thinking of the first section, perhaps? The one that determines the team has the right to assess exactly how they respond to each individual threat within certain guidelines, isn’t it? I believe article six goes onto further state that the team can allocate resources proportionate to the threat.’

‘Got it in one,’ said Tony. ‘Of course, if I’d nuked Berlin and been done with it, I can see why you’d be upset, Mr Secretary. But I was actually making a qualified and calm assessment of the needs of Berlin, versus my need for personal time, and deciding that Rhodey here had it covered.’

Ross glared at them both. Pepper smiled serenely. Tony winked at her. It didn’t improve Ross’s mood but it seemed to improve hers.

‘Damn,’ muttered Darcy. ‘I guess this is what happens when they argue with people who aren’t each other.’

Jane bit her lip and had some more coffee.

‘We’ll discuss this more later,’ said Ross. ‘Now, I want to know who this new woman is.’

‘Lady Thor?’ said Tony.

‘She said just Thor,’ said Pepper. ‘And she said she was from another planet.’ Remembering “my planet needs me”, Jane wasn't sure Pepper was remembering it entirely accurately.

‘Is she one of your staff?’ demanded Ross, spelling out each word individually.

‘I don’t think “do you have superpowers?” is an interview question during the selection process,’ said Tony. ‘Unless things have changed a lot.’ Ross opened his mouth.

‘Mr Secretary,’ said T’Challa, who had enough authority that Ross was obliged to allow the interruption. ‘We have not had much time to assess these new events ourselves. All we know is what you do: a woman who calls herself Thor has arrived to assist.’

‘She’s got a hammer,’ said Pepper.

Tony glanced sharply at Ross. ‘Is Mjolnir missing?’ he asked. The rucksack containing Mjolnir sat at Jane’s feet. She nudged it with her leg nervously and focussed on her coffee. 

Ross hesitated.

‘It is, isn’t it?’ said Tony with a sigh.

‘That information is-’

‘Whatever, I don’t care,’ said Tony. ‘It means she’s got the original one.’

‘Does this mean we should assume she hails from Asgard?’ said T’Challa.

Around the table, everyone seemed to shrug.

‘I thought only one person could lift the hammer?’ demanded Ross.

‘Not… exactly,’ said Tony.

‘What do you mean by that?’

‘Thor said his father can,’ said Jane, to rescue Tony from talking about Vision.

‘Well this woman is clearly not his father,’ pointed out Ross. 

‘That is true,’ said Jane. Darcy kicked her under the table.

‘What do we know about Mjolnir?’ asked T’Challa to the group. ‘It seems the answer is precious little. We cannot trace it. We cannot yet trace the Bifrost on a planet-wide scale. Until the upgrades to Jane’s work are completed, I do not see how we can proceed in discovering even when this woman arrived.

‘Do you know who she is?’ Ross barked at Jane.

‘Me? Why the hell would I know?’ Jane demanded. It was easy to be annoyed with Ross because she just didn’t like him.

‘She apparently gave the name “Thor”,’ Ross pointed out.

‘Do you think that everyone called Thor who visits Earth wants to hang out with me?’ said Jane, folding her arms. ‘Do you think I run an ET bed and breakfast? I don’t really care who she is. She’s not my Thor, and now you’ve lost Mjolnir.’

‘If you think we-’

‘I don’t care!’ snapped Jane. She was getting quite into it. ‘I want Thor back and Mjolnir was my only hope and you’ve gone and ruined it!’ She couldn’t cry on command and that seemed melodramatic, but she did sink back into her chair and make a couple of sniffling noises.

Ross clearly decided enough was enough, and moved back onto the others. He wanted Tony to find this new Thor and get her to register if she ever set foot on Earth again. He wanted a mission report of the events of Berlin. He wanted more information about where, precisely, Vision had been, and what he’d been doing. “On vacation” was the best Tony had come up with at short notice. Vision had taken that and run with it though, talking about the sights he wanted to see and how he wanted to get to know his home world.

Eventually, Ross left. Jane breathed a sigh of relief and got herself some more coffee. The rucksack at her feet, containing Mjolnir, shifted slightly as she sat back down. It was funny how little it weighed when she wanted it to.

Tony grinned at Pepper. ‘You’re amazing at dealing with him,’ he said.

Pepper gave him a stern look.

‘Enquiring minds want to know,’ said Darcy. ‘If you psych eval all your “high ability” employees, does that mean Jane has one?’ Jane glared at Darcy. ‘What?’ said her friend. ‘Aren’t you curious?’

‘I’m hardly likely to reveal confidential information like that to the group,’ said Pepper.

‘It’s probably low risk of megalomania, high risk of stealing and/or breaking expensive equipment,’ said Tony.

Jane considered. That sounded accurate, but it didn’t mean she had to take it. ‘What’s yours?’ she asked Tony. ‘High risk of annoying people?’

‘High risk of setting the building on fire trying to make toast without assistance?’ suggested Rhodey.

‘Oh come on,’ grumbled Tony. ‘I’ve never done that with toast!’

‘Perhaps we should return to the matter at hand,’ said Vision. ‘Are we going to try and find this other Thor? She might know about our Thor.’

‘We do need to look for her,’ said Tony. ‘My bet is that she’s one of his buddies from Asgard though, and she’s gone back there.’ He turned to address Jane. ‘We need to get those satellites up and running so we can check it out.’

‘Uh,’ said Jane. They did, of course, need to do that. 

‘I want to know why she came to Stark Tower,’ said Pepper. ‘Why did she help today? There must be a hundred things going on in the world.’

Tony wrinkled his nose. ‘Jane was there. Do you think Thor asked her to keep an eye?’

Jane coughed and glanced at Darcy.

‘I’m more concerned about the Accords,’ said Rhodey, before she could speak. ‘If she’s Asgardian she’s not going to be impressed with Ross, and we don’t want to be trying to fight her on Ross’s orders. At least with our Thor we know him a lot better.’

‘That didn’t exactly stop the fighting last time,’ pointed out Darcy.

‘We all agree that the Accords are necessary,’ said T’Challa. ‘It seems as though we should find her, and then discuss the matter. If she is truly a friend of Thor’s, she must be able to understand the political complication.’

‘Well yeah,’ said Tony. ‘But I just don’t think we can get Asgardians to do that. Besides, she saved Pepper, I’m inclined to be nice.’ 

Jane glanced at Darcy, who gave her a look that said “get on with it”. Before she could say anything though, the door opened.

‘Are you absolutely fucking kidding me?’ said Tony.

Steve Rogers walked in, with Sam Wilson and Natasha Romanoff. ‘Language,’ said Natasha, earning herself a scowl from Steve. 

T’Challa pursed his lips. ‘This is not wise,’ he said. ‘Secretary Ross left but moments ago.’

‘We know: we saw him,’ said Steve.

‘We bugged his chopper,’ said Natasha.

‘Please don’t tell me you guys are just, like, camping in the forest next door or something,’ said Rhodey.

‘Yeah, we sneak in and steal the food at night,’ said Sam sarcastically. Rhodey grinned. ‘Hey man, you OK?’

Rhodey half-shrugged. ‘I’ve got some good prosthetics,’ he said at last. ‘Best there are.’

The reminder of Rhodey’s injury and the fight that had caused it seemed to ripple throughout the Avengers, past and present, filling the air with an awkward silence. Tony let out a very audible breath. He was gripping his cup of coffee rather tightly.

‘Hey, Tony, I know we shouldn’t be here,’ said Steve, ‘but with all this stuff about Thor and suddenly this woman showing up with the hammer… That was Mjolnir, right? I think we all need to be on the same page for this.’

‘Yes, you’re right,’ said Tony, his voice a little sharp. ‘Take a seat. Have some damn coffee.’ Rhodey touched his shoulder. ‘Sorry. Have some coffee. If you want.’

Natasha helped herself, unconcerned. The other two joined the table straight away.

‘Do you know about Thor’s return to Earth last month to warn us of a new danger?’ asked T’Challa.

‘Not exactly,’ said Steve. ‘Tony got us a message that Thor had visited and warned that there’d be a fight in the future, but not all the details. That’s why-’

‘That’s why you’re here, of course,’ finished Tony. ‘Who wants to explain it?’

Since everyone in the room was pretty exhausted from fighting or escaping some sort of menace that day, Darcy ended up doing the talking.

‘So basically,’ she summarised at the end, ‘we’re probably all doomed because of this one angry dude, but on the plus side he might target elsewhere first. On the minus side, if he does that we're double-doomed, and for all we know he’s already got to Asgard because Original Flavour Thor has vamoosed and we don’t know where he is except he’s not on Earth.’

Jane felt gazes shift towards her and she studied her coffee cup intently. She didn’t want sympathy.

‘So today… who’s this new woman Thor?’ asked Steve at last.

‘We don’t know,’ said Tony flatly. 

‘She showed up at Stark Industries when we were attacked and stopped all four of the attackers,’ said Pepper. ‘She’s got Mjolnir, and she can fly and summon lightning, and she told me her name was Thor.’

‘Well that means we trust her, right?’ said Sam. ‘Only someone who’s worthy blah-blah-blah. Even if Thor’s missing, she’s probably not some undercover agent for what’s-his-face Thanos or, I don’t know, Hydra, or else the hammer would know.’

‘So there’s a thing you guys should know,’ said Jane, looking up and glancing around the table.

‘Wait, you know who she is?’ said Natasha.

‘Oh my god,’ said Tony. ‘Why didn’t you say something earlier? Do all Thors actually want to sleep with you? Did you just shout in Ross’s face for the fun of it?’

‘Kinda,’ said Jane. ‘Not the sleeping with me thing, just the shouting at Ross thing. I need to get my stress out somewhere.’ She tried to look guilty, but she wasn’t really.

‘Did you see her at the Tower?’ said Pepper. ‘Did she help get you out?’

‘Thor actually sent her to look out for you, didn’t he?’ said Tony. ‘Ha! I knew it!’

‘Not exactly,’ said Jane. She reached down into her rucksack and pulled out Mjolnir, wrapping herself in the magic as she did and standing up to her full height of six-foot-something.

The dropped jaws of everyone except Darcy were kinda fun.

‘Oh my god,’ said Sam at last. ‘This is awesome. You’re Thor? You’re just like, chilling and you can suddenly pick up the hammer and fly? This is the best. Isn’t flying awesome?’

She met his smile with one of her own. ‘Amazing,’ she agreed. ‘I went up to the mesosphere. It was incredible!’

‘Hold on, hold on,’ said Sam. ‘Steve, stand up a minute.’

Steve seemed to realise what this was about and met Jane’s eyes with some amusement as he got to his feet. She was ever-so-slightly taller than him.

‘Does this mean you could beat him in a fight as well?’ asked Sam. ‘Or a race?’

‘Really?’ said Tony. ‘That’s what we’re taking from this?’

‘I’ll fight you if you want,’ Jane offered to Tony.

‘Funny,’ he said. He considered. ‘He could crush the outer shell of my suits. I wonder if you could.’

‘Does this mean Jane’s an Avenger now?’ asked Natasha.

‘No it does not,’ said Jane. ‘I am a _scientist_ and I have a lot of work to do, and I need to find Thor. My Thor.’

‘And if you don’t like it, you can totally fight her,’ said Darcy, grinning.

‘Perhaps you’d care to tell us what happened in the Tower then, Jane,’ said T’Challa.

‘Yeah, good point,’ said Tony. ‘What the hell happened?’

‘Um, sure, I guess,’ said Jane. ‘I went down to the basement to try and reboot Friday, but one of the creatures was already there. He’d- he’d killed someone and he had backed a bunch of others into a corner so they couldn’t escape. I distracted him.’

‘Wait, as Thor? How long have you been able to do this?’

‘Not as Thor. As me,’ she said. ‘I just chucked a bunch of stuff at him. It worked. Sort of. Until he got mad with me and attacked me and pretty much killed me.’ She stepped out of Thor and back into Jane and pulled down her turtleneck to show the burns on her throat. The others did a mixture of wincing and gasping and Steve jumped to his feet.

‘Jane, are you OK?’ said Pepper. ‘Do we need to get a doctor?’

‘I’m good, mostly,’ said Jane, sitting down. ‘Relax, guys. I’m tired and I have a lot of bruises. But being Thor patched up the worst of it. So yeah.’ She looked around at them. ‘I’m _fine_ ,’ she insisted. The worried looks were starting to make her uncomfortable.

‘So Mjolnir appeared to you?’ asked Vision.

‘Uh, I don’t exactly know. I was sort of… dead. Ish.’

‘Jane, I swear, if there’s a giant hole in the foundations of the tower…’ said Tony, folding his arms.

‘What happened to being nice because I helped Pepper?’ demanded Jane.

Tony muttered something grumpily about Norse gods having no respect for structural integrity.

‘Anyway,’ said Rhodey, before they could start bickering properly, ‘you got the guy in the basement and then went upstairs?’

‘Yeah,’ said Jane. ‘There were three dudes left. I got two and-’ Feeling her cheeks burning uncomfortably, she shifted in her seat and turned to Pepper. ‘Sorry about Webber. I didn’t see him go for you.’

Pepper waved a hand. ‘I owe you a thanks more than anything. And it was very satisfying, in a terrifying sort of way.’

‘I’m coming around to the stilettos,’ admitted Jane. Pepper grinned.

‘Do we want to know?’ said Rhodey.

‘Pepper kicked the guy in the balls with three inches of high heel,’ said Jane. ‘It was awesome.’ The men around the table winced slightly.

‘ _Dudes_ ,’ said Darcy with a roll of her eyes.

‘Wow, though, Jane, helluva day,’ said Steve. ‘You doing OK?’

‘Yeah, um, mostly,’ said Jane. ‘It’s kinda fun.’

Steve grinned. ‘I know the feeling,’ he said. ‘Just remember you might need a bit of help figuring out how long your limbs are. And try not to hold anything breakable.’

Jane couldn’t help but smile, for all that she’d found being Thor-sized surprisingly easy enough to adjust to so far, which she guessed was thanks to Mjolnir. ‘Thanks for the tip,’ she said.

‘So what now?’ said Tony, glancing at Steve.

‘We should be going,’ said Steve. ‘You know you can count on us if you need a hand with Thanos, or with helping find Thor.’

Tony hesitated for a moment. ‘Do you guys… need anything?’ he asked at last. ‘Money? Tech?’

Steve shook his head ‘We do all right for ourselves,’ he said, ‘but thank you.’

‘Not unless you’ve figured out a way to make my wings inconspicuous,’ added Sam.

‘I’ll let you come for a piggy-back ride some time,’ said Rhodey.

‘Yes, because that’ll be inconspicuous,’ said Nat. She turned to Jane. ‘Do yourself a favour and learn to fight.’

‘I’m not an Avenger,’ said Jane.

‘So that means next time there’s trouble you’ll just sit at the sidelines and won’t get involved at all?’ said Nat, raising an eyebrow. Jane dropped her gaze. ‘Look, I don’t care how many superpowers Mjolnir gives you, unless you know a bit about fighting, you’re going to get someone hurt.’

‘Fine, I guess,’ grumbled Jane. She had enough to do. ‘I’m still not planning on being Thor for long.’


	10. How to Avoid the Superwoman Complex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane Foster has got enough on her plate, what with being a full time researcher, giving lectures, applying for grants, writing books, and consulting for Stark Industries. When Thor drops off the face of the universe and leaves her on Earth with no clues as to where he is, she doesn’t know what to do or how to find him.
> 
> Then an attack on Stark Industries changes everything, and she finds herself getting thrown into a life that she’s previously only watched from the sidelines, and where getting punched through a wall is suddenly just an average day of the week.

In the days that followed, Jane experimented. She flew higher and faster. She tested how far from Mjolnir and how long away from Mjolnir she could get before she reverted back to herself. She measured height and weight and caloric intake and force of hit and healing rate. She had so much fun doing so, it almost felt treacherous to her Thor, wherever he was. 

Outside of practical tests, though, Mjolnir wouldn’t tell her much, even though she could lift it. It let off electromagnetic radiation, but that seemed to be now be entirely within her control. It only had mass insofar as it wanted to have mass or she needed it to have mass. It also couldn’t seem to be tied back to anything obvious about the Bifrost. Her hope that Mjolnir might lead her to Thor now seemed naive.

Her first thought that Mjolnir had gone to New Mexico because it was a previous Bifrost site was perhaps the most testable. She was assuming Heimdall had not sent it because Heimdall couldn’t lift it, and she couldn’t imagine Odin sending it to Midgard at all. Instead she had to guess that it was sent or made its own way through an area of spacetime which formed a bridge naturally. The idea that certain areas of the Nine Realms were more inclined to naturally form a bridge with no more than a bit of magical prodding - rather than all the power that went into the Bifrost - was one she’d considered in the past but not yet researched. Loki finding secret paths between the worlds seemed to bear up that hypothesis. Perhaps Puente Antiguo was simply a place the bridge formed easily, and perhaps the same held true for the crack in the rocks on Asgard. She and Darcy had begun a search, using historical data and the newly upgraded Stark Industries satellites, to look for evidence, but it was slow going.

She also couldn’t help but feel that didn’t get her any closer to Thor. What she really needed to know was if he had sent it, or if it had sent itself. And perhaps even more importantly: could she follow it back? She tried to send it to him and fly after it, but whether because she wasn’t doing it right or it couldn’t find him at all, it didn’t work. She just returned to Earth. So she ended up back at her books, poring over data and math and measurements that made no sense.

It was Rhodey who came and interrupted her work first.

‘You need a break,’ he said, after watching her swearing at her computer for five minutes or so.

‘I need a double whiskey,’ grumbled Jane bitterly.

‘Come on,’ he said. ‘Follow me. Bring Mjolnir.’

Curious, Jane left Darcy running some simulations and followed. He led her to one of the larger training rooms in the facility. Tony was already there, wearing the Iron Man suit minus the headpiece. The War Machine armour was clearly waiting for Rhodey.

‘Are you guys kidding me?’

‘We’re just following Nat’s advice for you,’ said Tony.

‘Think of all those times you’ve wanted to punch Tony in the face,’ said Rhodey. ‘Now’s your chance!’

‘Hey, we agreed not to sell it like that,’ complained Tony.

‘I can’t think of a better way to sell it,’ said Rhodey, grinning.

Jane looked between them both and sighed. ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘I guess I could use a break.’ She hefted Mjolnir up and stepped into Thor, weariness and aching shoulders instantly dropping away. ‘Um, so, what now?’

‘Just one-on-one for now,’ said Rhodey, suiting up. ‘Just try and knock me down. I wanna see what you’ve got.’

‘Uh, I don’t want to accidentally hurt you or anything,’ said Jane awkwardly. ‘I mean, I don’t actually know how strong I am. Well, I sort of do, mathematically, but I don’t know what that means in terms of you.’

‘These suits can take a lot of punishment,’ said Tony, who’d sat down at the side and was taking a pull of one of his green smoothie monstrosities.

‘Right,’ said Jane doubtfully, facing Rhodey. She felt a bit ridiculous.

‘C’mon, Jane, bring it,’ said Rhodey.

‘Right,’ she said again. She pulled back her arm and… went flying into the wall after being hit by a repulsor beam. The concrete landing jolted her body. The pain was minor, but it was the first time she had felt pain while in this body. She stared at War Machine across the room, who gave a shrug. Tony was laughing. ‘You guys are such jackasses,’ she yelled.

‘Hey, I said bring it,’ called Rhodey. ‘Or are we just going to talk all day?’

Jane launched herself and Mjolnir at him.

If his opening moves hadn’t been enough of a clue, it didn’t take her long at all to realise that fighting War Machine as operated by Colonel James Rhodes was a very different kettle of fish to fighting bulky, unmaneuverable, unpracticed scientists (albeit with superpowers). He was _fast_ and unforgiving and he hit her hard. Her one real advantage was that every time he hit her with something - even the chest beam - the best he could do was knock her down for a bit. Even when it hurt, she just sort of shook it off.

He won, of course. Or rather, he knocked her into the floor, which then buckled around her as she skidded back and smashed her head against the wall.

‘ _Ow_ ,’ she complained. She got to her feet and studied the marks from her landing. The floor had crumpled around her and the wall had a helmet shaped dent in it. Her head ached for a moment or two before the pain vanished.

Rhodey approached and flipped up his visor, studying the damage, not looking particularly apologetic. ‘Hope you didn’t lose too many brain cells,’ he said cheerfully.

‘Did you do this solely so you could beat someone with Thor’s powers?’ asked Jane.

‘To be fair,’ said Tony, approaching and inspecting the dent in the wall with interest, ‘that was only about eighty percent of the appeal.’

‘Speak for yourself,’ said Rhodey. ‘For me it was more like ninety-five.’ He winked at Jane. He was at least sweating, which she counted as a win since she wasn’t out of breath, just bashed about.

She snorted. ‘Thanks for this helpful lesson on how bad I am at fighting,’ she said. 

‘Nah, you’re not that bad,’ said Rhodey. ‘We’re just pretty good. You could beat a lot of the threats we face no problem, but against someone strong and fast _and_ experienced, you’ve gotta be faster off the mark. I don’t know if you’ve ever watched Thor fight?’

‘Does through my fingers count?’ asked Jane.

‘You’re adorable,’ said Tony. She punched his arm and he was jolted a step to the side with an ‘oof!’

‘My point is,’ continued Rhodey, ‘he’s really, really good. He doesn’t just fight with Mjolnir, he knows his strength inside and out, and he’s fast too. He can take on someone stronger than him no problem.’

‘Funny what a thousand years of practice will get you,’ said Jane. ‘I don’t think I’m quite going to get there, Rhodey.’

‘No, but we can get you better,’ said Rhodey. ‘We need to teach you your strength, so you know when to block and when to just ignore it. You can take a hell of a beating, I don’t know if you noticed.’ He kicked a bit of rubble from the wall. Jane grinned. ‘Well if I’m sparring with Thor and I throw a punch, he doesn’t even block it. He just takes it, because blocking it uses energy and concentration, whereas actually getting hit doesn’t hurt him. Then he makes use of the fact that I’m busy punching him to counter-attack. It’s in those split-seconds that you can change the course of a fight.’

‘OK,’ said Jane, ‘I think. Do you preface all your fights with “just take this beating I’m about to dish out”?’ 

Rhodey grinned. ‘It’s gotta work at least once,’ he said. ‘C’mon. Let’s try again.’

‘All right,’ said Jane. ‘As long as sooner or later I get to punch Tony.’

‘I’d like to see you try,’ said Tony. He slurped on his smoothie complacently. Jane suddenly decided she was going to take this training significantly more seriously.

~*~

To her surprise, Jane found adding combat training to her routine was actually helpful. It gave her time to blow off steam whenever her work was failing her and, even more bizarrely, it was also giving concrete results.

Year after year, gym teachers had tried and failed to teach Jane some form of sporting ability. Year after year, she’d defeated their attempts. Her body had just never been coordinated and she’d simply never been interested. Gym was time she could have spent studying. Even as an adult, her interest in her fitness had only extended as far as making sure she was able to carry her own equipment and have plenty of sex. As Thor, however, everything was totally different. She punched and kicked and blocked hits, getting faster and faster, harder and harder, picking it up at a speed usually reserved for learning math. She mastered moves with barely an input from her brain. In fact, the less she let her brain get involved, the better. Her body seemed to just be ready and willing to learn how to beat the crap out of others. She wasn’t as good as her Thor, not by a mile, but she was holding her own, even against Rhodey and Tony.

Her work to find her own Thor was far less satisfying. She still had no idea how she might use Mjolnir to help and she’d not heard from Sif. She was sorely tempted to try and summon Heimdall and see if, now, she could go to Asgard. What stopped her was that she didn't think Odin would be any more welcoming and she now had to worry he'd want to take Mjolnir from her. The hammer was her only connection to Thor; she wasn’t surrendering it in a hurry. So instead she was forced back to what felt like inaction, and placing trust in Sif’s search blindly.

The only area of her work where she seemed to be making progress was identifying possible naturally occurring weak spots between the Nine Realms. Her atmospheric data from Puente Antiguo bore up the fact that something was different there, and she could see similar signs in seventy or so other areas surrounding the globe. She suspected she was over-counting and was trying to come up with a better way of testing, or even of trialling the connection. The problem was, as much as she would normally have been thrilled with that sort of progress, it still did not get her any closer to finding Thor, and she couldn’t help her imagination from listing all the horrors he might be facing.

‘I don’t know what to do,’ she told Darcy at last, a couple of weeks after she first picked up Mjolnir. They were at home, and she was poring over a book about Norse mythology. In desperation she’d turned to reading all she could about Mjolnir, but even she knew it was a last ditch attempt. Thor had always found the myths that had survived hilarious, after all. ‘It’s been over a month, and we’ve not heard anything.’

‘We’ll just keep doing what we’re doing,’ said Darcy. ‘We’ve got to find something eventually.’

‘Darcy, do you think he’s… dead?’

Darcy looked sharply at Jane. ‘No,’ she said. ‘If he was dead he’d’ve turned up. Someone’s hidden him really well, so he’s got to be alive.’

Jane accepted the logic gratefully and forced herself not to question it, her eyes tired and head aching. She needed to sleep. Or go hang out as Thor for a bit. Either would do it. She couldn’t put off sleep or food forever as Thor, but she could put it off for a bit longer. Still, she’d crash in the end. It might be better to get some real sleep.

Then her phone rang. She debated ignoring it for just a few moments too long, and Darcy hit the speakerphone button.

‘Jane.’ It was Tony. ‘Just thought I’d let you know we have what looks like a minor alien invasion.’

‘What?’ squawked Jane.

‘Not Asgardian,’ he said hastily. She swallowed and tried to pretend she wasn’t disappointed. ‘It’s not even a very big craft,’ he added. ‘But Ross has sent the Avengers to Nova Scotia. About forty miles north-east of a place called Halifax. He’d probably be annoyed if someone else were to show up. It’s just unfortunate the Avengers no longer have anyone who speaks the Alltongue.’

‘You’re not subtle,’ said Jane. Her earliest experiments with Darcy had revealed that that was another gift she’d gained. It was part of why her voice changed as Thor, she suspected.

‘Anyway, see you later,’ said Tony, before he rang off.

Jane sighed and picked up Mjolnir.

‘You better be careful,’ said Darcy. ‘If Ross is involved you might end up in jail.’

‘Or squished by alien invaders even if he wasn’t involved,’ Jane pointed out.

‘Yeah, or that!’ said Darcy. ‘That doesn’t make it better!’

Jane grinned. ‘See you later,’ she said.

She caught up with Rhodey and Tony flying over the ocean.

‘Hi guys!’ she yelled.

‘Technically this is an Avengers-only mission,’ Tony reminded her. At least, she was pretty sure that’s what he said. The wind made it hard to hear.

‘OK, you don’t want to arrive with me, I got it,’ she shouted back. She sped up and pulled ahead of them, slipping into a nice tailwind she’d called up. 

The sea, hundreds of feet below, was brilliant and beautiful in the sun, and she flew past white puffs of clouds, before diving through one, corkscrewing through the cool water vapour. As she popped back into the sun again, she looked back to see Tony and Rhodey as specs behind her, now accompanied by a slightly larger spec that she thought was a helicopter. She hoped Canada was up for a US invasion because it looked like they were getting one.

Ocean quickly gave way to the green of forests and farmland of the peninsula, although still dotted with lakes. Jane dived downwards, which brought into focus the few built-up areas, mostly along the coasts. She flew over Halifax, and then shifted her course slightly, scanning the horizon. Initially there was nothing to see, but she thought she could feel something on the wind, so she continued to fly forwards.

It didn’t take long to see smoke emerging from the forest, and since the smells on the breeze were not entirely human, she swooped downwards. Soon she could see the scar in the trees and the dark metal lump that had to be the ship. 

She dove again, then pulled out of it at the last second, landed on the ground next to the ship and grinned up at it. It wasn’t pretty or sleek or anything bad sci fi shows had promised her. It was amazing. She wanted it. It had flown through the stars like she’d always wanted to. Perhaps they’d take her for a ride.

‘Ma’am?’

Jane whirled around. At the edge of the trees, taking cover in a ditch, were a small group of soldiers. She wondered how they’d beat her there for a moment before she clocked the Canadian flags on the uniforms. The woman who’d addressed her was clearly high-ranking, although Jane wasn’t an expert at military insignia. Behind the soldiers, through the forest, she could make out the edge of at least one jeep and a helicopter.

‘Uh, hi,’ she said. ‘Cool spaceship. The Avengers and some people from the US are a few minutes out by the way.’

The woman groaned, which was perhaps not what Jane expected, but she supposed the spaceship wasn’t currently any cause for concern. ‘Carson, radio in that we’ve got company coming,’ she said. ‘And that we’ve already got company,’ she amended, seeming to remember Jane.

‘Have you seen anyone come out?’ asked Jane. Thor’s usual position in times and places where he wasn’t welcome was to brazen it out, so she didn’t move.

‘We’re currently just collecting intel,’ said the woman.

‘All right,’ said Jane. ‘Have fun,’ she added. She walked a couple of steps closer to the spaceship and banged on the hull with the butt of Mjolnir. A couple of the Canadians yelled at her but she ignored them. If they had no reason to shoot the spaceship they had no reason to shoot her. Probably.

Then she heard movement inside the ship, and she tried not to bounce on her toes. Aliens! Real aliens! 

Not that she hadn’t spent a lot of time with real aliens. In fact she’d got closer to a real alien than everyone on Earth and swapped enough bodily fluids with one that even she no longer made “alien probe” jokes when she was watching B movies. It was just cool to meet _more_ real aliens, even if they weren’t the specific alien she badly wanted to see.

A ramp hissed open and dropped and Jane grinned, stepping forwards. ‘Hi!’ she said. ‘How are you?’ Perhaps it wasn’t a typical greeting.

The alien said, ‘Fuck, have we landed on Asgard?’


	11. Invisible and Inaudible in Washington: American Policies Toward Canada

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane Foster has got enough on her plate, what with being a full time researcher, giving lectures, applying for grants, writing books, and consulting for Stark Industries. When Thor drops off the face of the universe and leaves her on Earth with no clues as to where he is, she doesn’t know what to do or how to find him.
> 
> Then an attack on Stark Industries changes everything, and she finds herself getting thrown into a life that she’s previously only watched from the sidelines, and where getting punched through a wall is suddenly just an average day of the week.

The second alien said: ‘Can’t have done. We weren’t that far off course.’

They were shorter than Jane. They were even shorter than Jane-as-Jane, as they looked like they clocked in at about four feet. Their clothes were muted jumpsuits connected to a mask over their heads, but through the tinted glass Jane could see they were a lot hairier than she was used to. Something in their voices made Jane think they were women, but she decided not to make a call on that without being told. Despite any alienness though, they were the same shape as her: one head, two arms and two legs. She beamed at them broadly.

‘This is Midgard,’ she said. ‘Don’t worry, I’m just… sorta Asgardian.’ She hoped they didn’t question it too far. 

‘Midgard?’ said the first speaker. ‘Shit, I was never any good at planet names. Midgard, Midgard… What’s that one?’’

‘Terra,’ said the second one.

‘Oh shit,’ said the first speaker.

‘Yup,’ said the second.

‘How come you’re here?’ asked Jane. She thought she could hear the American helicopter now, in the distance.

‘Engine trouble, explained the first. ‘Apologies, Ma’am, er- Lady, er-’

‘Just call me Thor,’ she said. The alien seemed to frown slightly. ‘Not the prince. Another one.’

The two looked at each other, but seemed to shrug. ‘I’m Captain Melliflue,’ said the first speaker. ‘And this is Officer Chun.’ Jane realised, without knowing how, that the language they spoke confirmed they were women in their introduction. She would, she realised, never understand the Alltongue. Melliflue glanced behind Jane to the Canadian military. ‘I see we’re not entirely welcomed. We really wouldn’t be here if we could help it.’ She hesitated. ‘I understand our position, legally, but if there’s any chance you could come onboard, speak to our engineer, and help us obtain the necessary parts, we’d be gone as quickly as we can.’

‘Oh my god yes,’ said Jane, without thinking. ‘Erm, I mean, I’d be happy to.’ She turned to the Canadian military. ‘Hey!’ she yelled. ‘It looks like they’re just having engine trouble! I’m going inside!’

‘What? You can’t- Don’t get yourself killed!’

‘It’ll be fine!’

Jane took a large gulp of air before following Melliflue and Chun up the ramp. She wasn’t sure what air to expect on board, but Thor could go a very long time without fresh oxygen when he needed to and didn't seem to find much particularly damaging to his lungs. Jane was only too happy to take advantage of that.

‘Where are we, Cap?’ called someone, as the airlock door slid open. There was a small crowd to greet them and, out of their space suits their clothes remained practical but had more variety in colour: bright blues and greens decorating pants and shirts covered in pockets. Their faces were all faintly squirrel-like, and definitely fluffy.

‘Terra,’ said Melliflue grimly.

‘Awww, hell,’ said that same voice.

‘Oh god, Terra!’ said someone. ‘Are we going to get arrested?’

‘What would you be arrested for?’ asked Jane, as Melliflue stripped off her helmet and revealed the same squirrel features as her crew.

‘Not everyone gets to come and go like Asgardians,’ said Melliflue. ‘You do know there’s a whole wealth of treaties detailing visits to undeveloped worlds, don’t you? I know you get away with ignoring them, but I didn’t think Asgardian education was that insular.’

‘Right, yeah,’ said Jane. ‘Sorry. I’m shit at politics.’ That at least was true. ‘Shall we go see the engine?’

The corridors of the spaceship were a light grey-blue and every inch of space seemed to be jam-packed with cubbyholes containing equipment and supplies. Jane looked about herself eagerly, reading labels on containers that translated with varying degrees of success. Sometimes she’d see something that just said ‘wrenches’ and then ten seconds later a term that was absolutely meaningless and could mean anything from a hyper-advanced screwdriver to some dehydrated steak. Thor had always said the Alltongue wasn’t great with proper nouns.

In the engines themselves, everything was entirely meaningless, but Jane still felt like she’d gone home. The air was warmer and stuffier and smelled of oil, and random things sometimes went ‘ping’ or let off steam. The design of the whole thing was very circular. She could see a great metal torus, maybe ten feet in diameter, half pulled out of a wall while one of the engineers had climbed a framing to inspect it. The pipes and lines and very shape of the room itself led from that to an even greater circle, this covered entirely but pointing down. 

‘Uh… power source leading to engine that expels matter?’ she guessed.

‘Close enough.’ Another of the aliens appeared at her elbow. ‘What’s happening, Cap?’

‘Thor here is going to talk to the locals and try and find us the parts we need, so show her,’ said Melliflue. ‘We’re on a time limit though, Arachi: we’ve landed on Terra.’

‘Oh fuck,’ said Arachi.

‘Terra?’ asked the engineer by the torus, sticking their head out of it to stare. ‘I heard they beat off the entire Chitauri army with five people.’

‘I’m sure that’s an exaggeration.’

‘It was actually six,’ supplied Jane helpfully, trying not to laugh at the idea of Earth having an interstellar reputation for being hardasses. ‘Although one of them was an Asgardian.’

‘We’re going to die,’ said the engineer up the ladder. ‘They don’t even have interstellar travel and they beat the _Chitauri_. They’re going to obliterate us.’

‘Back to work,’ said Arachi sternly. ‘The Chitauri do that weird mental connection thing. Anyone can beat them if they just take out the lead ship.’

‘Oh, yeah, just,’ said the other engineer sarcastically.

‘I could do it in about ten minutes,’ said Arachi. Jane decided she liked her.

‘Tell me what you need,’ she said. ‘And what you need it to do. So I can make sure it’s strong enough.’

‘You got a technical background?’ asked Arachi.

‘Yes,’ said Jane. ‘Although not really this type of craft.’

‘Yeah, you guys are all wormholes, aren’t you?’ said Arachi. ‘I’d love to ride one.’

‘It’s awesome,’ said Jane, who’d still only been on the Bifrost once. ‘Although I wish I knew more about ships.’

Arachi’s eyes widened and her ears twitched in a facial expression Jane’s brain somehow knew was smiling. ‘How does it work? Is it true-?’ Jane was saved from having to try to explain physics she didn’t entirely understand by Captain Melliflue making a clicking noise in her throat. ‘Right, sorry, Midgard, time limit,’ said Arachi. ‘Come with me, then.’

Twenty minutes later, Jane emerged into the mid-afternoon sun, head spinning a little, with a shopping list for a spaceship. They’d given her paper and a weird, chunky pen with green ink that could be entirely wiped away until it had dried and she’d carefully specced out her best estimation of what they needed in Earth terms. Now she just had to persuade someone to give it to her.

Which was made all the more difficult that she emerged into a political spat. The Canadian woman who’d talked to Jane was now being addressed as Colonel Green by her US counterpart, a Colonel Merlan, and they were arguing over who was responsible, their minions standing on either side of the face off.

Jane approached Iron Man and War Machine, who were sitting on the grass playing tic tac toe with rocks and twigs. They’d got their visors up.

‘What’s happening here?’ she asked.

‘Nice to meet you too, Lady Thor,’ said Tony archly.

‘Fine, Stark, Colonel Rhodes,’ she said irritably. ‘Introductions out of the way - what’s happening here?’

‘Same as usual: we land, we say we're here on UN orders, other guys insist they don't want Americans or the UN, someone calls their superior, everyone bickers. Rinse, repeat.’

‘Who’s winning?’

‘Me,’ said Rhodey, as he connected three. 

‘Wow, you guys are really testing your intellects,’ said Jane. She handed them the shopping list. ‘Craft’s broken down and the people inside need this stuff to fix it. They want to be off world as quickly as possible because apparently it’s illegal. They’re also a bit scared we’re going to destroy them because of what happened to the Chitauri, so be nice.’

Tony and Rhodey pored through the list. ‘Most of this is pretty simple components,’ said Tony at last. ‘Do you think they’ll notice if we disassemble their choppers?’

‘I’m gonna go with probably,’ said Rhodey. ‘Come on, let’s go negotiate.’

Merlan, when told there was a shopping list brought to them by Thor, radioed for superiors and demanded Tony speak to Ross. By contrast, Colonel Green took one look at the list and then turned to Jane. ‘This’ll get them to leave?’

‘Who, the aliens for the Americans?’ asked Jane.

‘ _Really_?’ said Rhodey. 

Jane grinned and shrugged the shrug of someone who had spent five of her formative years in England. ‘The aliens will leave,’ she said to Green. ‘I can’t promise those guys will, but I will and they might chase me, so…’

Green handed the list to one of her staff and told him to find it all as quickly as he could.

Tony walked over. ‘Right, we’ve got two hours to get this craft gone. If that doesn’t happen, they’re sending in backup.’

Green sighed. ‘I’m going to go and talk to command,’ she said and stomped off.

‘I’m going back to the ship,’ said Jane.

‘Jane, Merlan and I have also been told to bring you in,’ muttered Tony. ‘Please just try and sneak off a little bit before we have to brawl.’

Jane rolled her eyes. ‘Yeah, sure, fine.’

Perhaps if the Canadian military had been less efficient (and less keen to get rid of the UN), or if she’d been less enthralled by Arachi and her engines, Jane might have succeeded in sneaking off. As it was, the final equipment was delivered while she was still drinking the cup of weird tea that tasted a bit like parsnip and talking about interstellar travel with Arachi. _Then_ she hung around while Arachi and her assistants started putting it all together to watch because frankly she didn’t really care about the Army and she could outfly both the iron suits.

Tony and Rhodey both gave her deeply disapproving looks as she exited the craft (after receiving a hug and a packet of parsnip tea as thanks from Arachi) just before it was about to take off. She ignored them.

She continued to ignore them as she watched the craft take off, pale orange smoke filling the clearing that made even her cough a bit. It shot up into the blue, between the clouds, and she smiled broadly as she followed its course. It was holding true. Soon they’d be out of the solar system and hopefully onto a planet that would welcome them a bit better.

Then, finally, she turned to face the US Army levelling a small number of assault rifles at her.

‘Lady Thor,’ said Tony, through extremely gritted teeth. ‘We ask that you accompany-’

He was interrupted by the Bifrost. Jane’s heart leapt into her throat and she ran forward to the rainbow stream. Except it wasn’t Thor. It wasn’t even Sif.

‘Lady Thunder.’ It was Tyr, backed up by a small number of men in their typical shining armour. She recognised him from the time he and his men had locked her up. ‘His Majesty Odin Allfather requests your company.’

‘Oh,’ said Jane, blinking. _Lady Thunder_. Did that mean they didn’t know who she was? That seemed impossible. She turned to the Army, to Tony and Rhodey and gave them a salute. ‘Maybe later, guys,’ she said as cheerfully as she could. She wasn’t at all sure she wouldn’t prefer the US Army, given the wariness in Tyr’s voice, but she had a feeling she couldn’t outrun Asgard the way she could the others. 

She stepped forward, into the circle where the Bifrost had hit the ground, and seconds later they were away.


	12. How to Win Friends and Influence People

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane Foster has got enough on her plate, what with being a full time researcher, giving lectures, applying for grants, writing books, and consulting for Stark Industries. When Thor drops off the face of the universe and leaves her on Earth with no clues as to where he is, she doesn’t know what to do or how to find him.
> 
> Then an attack on Stark Industries changes everything, and she finds herself getting thrown into a life that she’s previously only watched from the sidelines, and where getting punched through a wall is suddenly just an average day of the week.

Heimdall’s observatory was much as she remembered it, except this time she didn’t have Thor’s comforting arms around her. She kept to her own feet, miraculously, but she suspected that had she been herself that wouldn’t have happened.

‘Lady Thunder,’ said Heimdall. ‘Welcome to Asgard.’ He had a slight smile on his face. She wondered if he knew who she was. Did Odin? Did anyone? Surely Heimdall of all people must have seen her change: she’d done it often enough and she knew Thor asked Heimdall to keep an eye on her when she was gone. Or maybe he’d been too busy looking for Thor himself. 

She wondered where Sif was, and if she was any closer to finding him.

Tyr and his guards had one of the skiffs for transport, and they boarded it along with her before beginning to head straight to the palace. The guards kept as wide a berth as they could, and once or twice she saw sideways glances to Mjolnir. She remembered Thor’s willingness to take on Tyr and his men the last time she’d been here and wondered if that’s what they expected from her. She wondered if she _could_. Not that she was the fighter Thor was, but she knew Mjolnir alone put her a step above even some of the more skilled Asgardians.

With that thought, she lifted her head and focussed on the city. It was still gold, still beautiful, and fortunately all rebuilt from the Dark Elves’ attack. It took longer for places like New York to regain their skyline, but evidently this wasn’t the case on Asgard. The air was clean, fresh, and cool, although as they approached the city she began to catch other smells: smoke, flowers, and food, and she smiled. She could spend a lot more time here, if Odin ever let her. Thor had promised to explore the city with her one day.

Inside the palace, she received more stares and avoidance. Everybody noticed Mjolnir, and to see an unrecognised woman carrying it was an anomaly. Jane kinda knew the feeling. She tightened her grip and kept quiet and tried to carry herself like she belonged there.

Soon, she was standing in front of the throne of Asgard, facing down Odin and his advisors. Fandral and Volstagg were among them, although like everyone else, neither seemed to recognise her. There was no sign of Sif and Hogun.

‘So Heimdall’s report was true,’ said Odin, his eyes fixed on Mjolnir. ‘There is another.’

Jane was tempted to ask what had taken them so long, but decided that might get Heimdall in trouble so bit her tongue. ‘Your Majesty,’ she said curtly, giving a short bow. Should she treat him as her king? She had no idea. She knew she wouldn’t get away with pretending to be an Asgardian here, not for longer than about ten seconds anyway.

‘Who are you?’ demanded Odin sharply.

‘I am-’ Jane licked her lips. _In for a penny,_ she thought. ‘I am Thor,’ she said firmly. ‘At least until your son reappears to reclaim his role.’

That raised some eyebrows. Good. There was no way in hell she was telling him she was Jane. Something was wrong on Asgard, Thor had said, and now Thor was missing. She couldn’t trust anyone. Except maybe Sif and the Warriors Three.

‘You are… Thor?’ Odin’s lip curled slightly.

‘Unless you can think up a better name,’ offered Jane. She tossed Mjolnir. It spun in the air and landed perfectly in her hand. ‘Mjolnir seems happy with this one, though.’ She considered her surroundings and decided for some honesty. ‘Look, it’s fun, being able to fly, but I don’t actually want to _be_ Thor. I want to find Thor and give him back his hammer. I know he’s missing, and I know you’re searching for him. Let me help.’

‘That’s a pretty offer,’ said Odin, ‘but how are we to know you can be trusted? You come from nowhere. You could be a spy. You could be an incompetent, and endanger my men.’

Jane’s hand twitched in irritation. She felt like she already owed him a smack for the goat thing, but it wouldn’t help. ‘Mjolnir says you can,’ she said. ‘“Whosoever holds this hammer, if _she_ be worthy…”’ She held out the hammer, in case he couldn’t see the runes now matched her words.

‘One can wield Mjolnir and still endanger others, as my son has proved before now.’

Even Odin’s councillors looked surprised at that one.

‘Do you want to test me?’ demanded Jane, voice rising in irritation. ‘We can fight here and now, if you want.’

Odin’s smile was thin. ‘Not perhaps that,’ he said. Jane swallowed. It occurred to her that inviting herself to be tested in an ancient, noble race of pseudo-Vikings probably wasn’t the smartest thing she’d ever done. Odin regarded her for some moments more. ‘There is a skirmish on the moon of Kollosi between the giants of Muspelheim and the Light Elves. End it. Restore the territory to the Elves. Then I will consider your offer.’

Jane stared up at him for a few seconds. _Fuck,_ said her brain.

‘Fine,’ said her mouth. ‘See you later.’

She left the throne room speedily, wondering what the hell she was meant to do now. Where the fuck was Kollosi? Why had she just agreed to fight _giants_? Why the hell wasn’t Mjolnir enough for them? And since when had she stepped into a goddamn World of Warcraft style arbitrary quest-lengthener?

At that, she stopped for a moment. Did Odin not want help finding Thor? Or did he really not trust her? The first suggestion seemed ludicrous.

Footsteps behind her made her turn. Fandral had followed her.

‘My lady,’ he said.

‘Hi Fandral,’ she said glumly. He frowned at her, but seemed to accept that she knew his name. He probably thought she was from Asgard or something and had met him at the palace before.

‘Lady, will you show me Mjolnir?’ She held out the hammer. He inspected it minutely. 

‘Why?’ she asked.

‘The true Mjolnir does not allow trickery,’ he said. He looked at her. ‘This is the true one. If it has indeed chosen you then perhaps… perhaps my king was hasty to dismiss you.’

Jane briefly debated telling him who she was, but something held her back. Who knew who was watching? The high walls of the palace held many shadows. 

‘I must return to my king,’ said Fandral. ‘But Lord Hogun’s halls are beside the lake. He might give you a kind word, if nothing else.’

‘Thanks,’ said Jane tightly. 

Hogun’s halls were not hard to find, not least because Thor had pointed them out on her last visit, although he’d explained his friend was on Vanaheim with his family at the time. Jane took Fandral’s advice to mean Hogun was back on Asgard, and couldn’t help but feel a rush of relief when she was brought to him.

‘I heard a rumour that a woman had brought Mjolnir back to Asgard,’ he said. 

‘News travels fast,’ remarked Jane. 

‘It is quite a piece of news,’ replied Hogun. Like Fandral, he studied the hammer, but seemed satisfied with it, and therefore satisfied with Jane too. ‘You seek Thor, Lady?’

‘Not… yet,’ said Jane. She explained Odin. Whatever Hogun thought of it, his face remained calm and unhurried, with a slight frown. ‘Look,’ said Jane at last. ‘I can fight if I need to, even if this all seems a bit arbitrary. But I don’t even know how to get to Kollosi.’

Hogun nodded. ‘Heimdall will send you there,’ he said simply. ‘Do you know much of the skirmish?’

‘Other than that there is one, no,’ admitted Jane.

‘The territory on Kollosi has long been fought over,’ said Hogun. ‘The Elves have laid claim to it for many centuries, but more recently the Sons of Muspell have made moves to take it as their own. They fight fiercely.’ He considered her. ‘Come, have some food with me and I will tell you of your foe. This battle will not be easy.’

‘Yeah, well, I’ll just make it rain on them. Like, a lot.’ said Jane.


	13. Catching Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane Foster has got enough on her plate, what with being a full time researcher, giving lectures, applying for grants, writing books, and consulting for Stark Industries. When Thor drops off the face of the universe and leaves her on Earth with no clues as to where he is, she doesn’t know what to do or how to find him.
> 
> Then an attack on Stark Industries changes everything, and she finds herself getting thrown into a life that she’s previously only watched from the sidelines, and where getting punched through a wall is suddenly just an average day of the week.

The air on Kollosi was hot and dry and smelled of smoke. Beneath her feet the grass was brown-yellow, and the clouds in the air were ash-black. Clearly there had been no rain for a time, and there was very little water in the air. Jane could taste sulfur. She licked her lips and tightened her grip on Mjolnir, trying to shake the feeling that she was walking to almost certain doom. She tried to tell herself it was wonderful to be on yet another world but it wasn’t working at all.

Feeling for the currents of wind in the air, she found them friendly enough, but there was a discordant note. Some other magic hung around them. She couldn’t tell what it was or where it had come from but it felt ever-so-slightly wrong to her. Then the wind circled and spun and brought with it whispers of battles and smells of blood and oil and fire up ahead. That was what she went towards.

When she finally topped a hill and saw the scenes of the battle before her, she had to gasp. Even though Hogun had explained what she’d likely see, it was very different to be faced with it. There were trees - and perhaps they had been green, but like the grass, they’d yellowed - but then the trees stopped abruptly to make a flat plain. In the distance she could see rock and flame: black hills rising up with flashes of fire in the narrow view between them. It looked like a fort, albeit a naturally formed one. In the plain, between the mountains and the forest, the land was charred and dead. Rocks and the ashen remains of trees scored the land, some still smouldering. There was nobody in the dead zone, and for that she was grateful. Whatever fighting there was had temporarily ceased, which at least bought her a short delay.

She walked down to the forest and did not care to be quiet. As she walked, the air began to feel a little more natural and the trees became a little more green. Hogun had told her the Elves would likely have a stronghold, and that they would care for the forest surrounding it, so she was sure she was heading in the right direction.

It took only fifteen minutes of walking before she received a hail from the now green and healthy trees, as well as the tips of several arrows pointed in her direction. Hogun had predicted that, too. He had assured her there would be many more arrows than she could see.

‘What are you doing, Asgardian?’ asked an elf from the tree branches. She could only just see him: his clothes were green and his skin brown. The only thing that made him stand out was his pale white hair, and even that was braided with vines to better hide it. Not much good out on the burnt up plains, or even in the dying trees at the edge of the forest, she couldn’t help but think.

‘Odin Allfather sent me to assist you, if I may,’ she said.

‘Why should we-’

‘Hold!’ This voice was a woman’s, and it came from behind. ‘She carries the hammer Mjolnir.’ Jane turned just in time to see this new elf drop from the trees. Like the man, she had dark skin and pale hair, braided with green. Her armour too was brown and green, but decorated with delicate gold filigree. On the ground, Jane could see that her ears were pointed and on her head, peering through her hair, was a pair of horns. She was also exceptionally beautiful, even wearing armour that wasn't hugely flattering, studying Jane with proud, perfect eyes. Jane managed not to stare too much, which she counted as an achievement. 

‘Uh, hi,’ said Jane.

‘You are not the one who usually wields that weapon,’ the elf observed.

‘No, he’s- unavailable. Sort of. It’s complicated.’

‘I am Princess Aelsa of the Light Elves,’ said the woman.

‘Oh, um, right,’ said Jane. It occurred to her she should probably bow, so she did. She wasn’t very good at royalty. ‘Your Highness,’ she added belatedly. ‘I’m Thor, as good as.’ 

‘Thor,’ said Princess Aelsa, with a slight smile. ‘Very well, if that is your chosen name. Though it strikes me as a name that brings enough responsibilities of its own without our fight.’

‘Yeah, but I’d still like to help. If you’ll have me.’ It was only sort of lying, she told herself.

‘If a deathwish you have, _Thor_ , then you are very welcome,’ said Aelsa. ‘We leave the forest in an hour. They have pushed us back far enough. Today: we attack.’

‘Right,’ said Jane. ‘Great. Thanks.’ She wondered if Mjolnir would consider it unWorthy if she threw up on her own shoes.

The hour passed all too quickly. Princess Aelsa seemed to afford her the same standing she would the actual Thor, seamlessly integrating her into the plans. Admittedly it wasn’t a very complex plan - largely consisting of attacking over the tops of the mountains to push the fire giants backwards, but Jane wasn’t really sure why she’d gained such trust. She just agreed to do as she was told. though. Odin had seemed to think she could end this damn war once and for all, but she wasn’t sure how she was meant to do that. The best she could do was help Aelsa and her forces.

Towards the end of the hour, she approached Aelsa, who was carefully checking over the leather riding gear on a chestnut winged horse.

‘You are ready?’ asked Aelsa.

‘As I can be,’ said Jane. 

‘You are not an experienced soldier, I think?’

‘Uh, no,’ Jane admitted slowly. ‘I’m not really- I sort of fell into this.’ She hesitated. ‘I don’t mean to be awkward, but why do you trust me? I mean, I could have just stolen Mjolnir or be doing some complicated magic or something.’

Aelsa’s lip twitched. ‘Dwarf-made weapons are none-too-easily tricked,’ she said. ‘Besides, I know Thor. The real Thor. He spent many summers on Alfheim in his youth. I believe our parents hoped we would fall for each other, for all there was never any chance of that.’ She looked amused. Jane felt her eyebrows raise inside her helmet. Thor had definitely never mentioned that. Aelsa continued, ‘I would recognise Mjolnir, and I know what it takes to wield it. And I also know that to have it on my side, however inexperienced its carrier, gives me some hope against the Sons of Muspel.’

‘Right,’ said Jane. ‘No pressure at all then.’

Laughing, Aelsa turned back to her horse. ‘Defeat just one and you will have more than earned your place, Lady,’ she said. 

To Jane, that still felt like way too much pressure, but she took a few deep breaths and readied herself as the elves began to mount their horses and get into formation. As they began to ride, then to fly forward, even the hundreds of winged horses did little to distract Jane from her impending doom. 

She thought of Darcy and her mom and the Avengers: on Earth with no idea what had happened to her. She thought of Thor, wondering how the hell he did this all the time, how he ran into battle without hesitation or fear. As she thought of him, though, her resolve strengthened. She was going to find him, and if this was what it took, then so be it.

Looking at the plains in front of her, she could see some three-hundred winged horses with armoured elves, glittering white, green and gold across the blackened grounds. She glanced down at Mjolnir, found comfort in its presence, and then raised her arm to swing it and fly.

She caught up with the elves easily as they reached the mountains. The air tasted like smoke and rotten eggs. The troops spread out around the walls and began to fly upwards. Jane copied them, flying slow and low to match speed with the horses. It was silent. The horses were too well trained to make noises and the elves were naturally quiet as they hooked arrows - arrows! Jane wondered if everyone else in the universe considered nukes unsporting or something - or slid swords from sheathes. The pounding of her own heart was all she could hear and then-

‘MOVE!’ yelled Aelsa, as a giant fireball, as big as a truck, appeared atop the mountains and began to fall.

The elves underneath it dodged, and Jane had only another moment to panic before another fireball appeared, then a rain of smaller burning lumps, and she had to put all her thoughts to dodging.

Copying Aelsa, she sped up, zipping up the side of the mountain, twisting and turning. Mjolnir hit the hail of fire head-on, scattering it into smaller burning droplets that clung to her skin and caused a dozen tiny stabs of pain. Jane felt for rain automatically, but there was still no water in the air. She hunted too for cold air but nothing came. Arms and face smarting, she gritted her teeth and flew on.

As she and the elves hit the top of the mountains, she gasped at the sight before her even as the air burned her face and dried out her mouth. The mountains curved around a huge circular valley. Perhaps it had once been green, but it burned red and black and a lava river flowed through it. It looked like Hell. Or rather, it looked like every picture she’d ever seen depicting the fire-and-brimstone typical Christian Hell. And in Hell, of course, there were demons. The fire giants filled that role admirably. They were all easily fifty foot tall, red-skinned and covered in flame, and there were at least a hundred of them spread around the valley. Some tended to machinery, but most were armed and waiting: whether with swords or with the giant cannons that launched the burning rain and fireballs.

Another huge fireball suddenly flew at her, and she yelped, dived down and under it and followed Aelsa into battle with the rest of the elves. 

The giant she dived for seemed bigger up close, towering over the land and she swallowed and forced herself not to flinch, or to run for it. Part of her brain still had trouble remembering how indestructible she was, and up against the giant, she couldn’t help but feel powerless. 

It roared at her, the air shuddering around her. Jane could feel herself beginning to sweat for the first time in this body. The giant raised its massive sword. She ducked beneath the swing, but had to meet its other arm grabbing for her with a hit from Mjolnir. The impact set her bones ringing and she was nearly forced sideways, but somehow she held it, gritting her teeth. Unbelievably, she forced its arm away from her, letting out a breath as she did. _She could do this,_ she tried to make herself believe.

She flew up, into the crown of flames around its head, and hit it squarely in the nose with her hammer. Her arms were burning, but somehow she didn’t need to scream or pull away. The giant stumbled, although didn’t fall. Instead it roared again and made another grab for her.

_Shit_. She flew around it, still desperately feeling in the air. How could there be _no_ water? 

Another giant, just behind the one she was bothering, swung for her seemingly out of nowhere and she yelped and let herself fall out of the air, out of its reach. 

‘Hey asshole, little busy at the moment!’ she yelled at it. The rising smoke tickled her throat. 

She felt the air behind her move as the first giant continued its onslaught and she changed course again, this time flying higher, away, looking for a new angle to come at it from. Even up, above the mountains, there was no colder air or water. It seemed impossible. She could still see the trees of the edge of the forest, yellowing as they were, and could still remember the green leaves where the Elves had been, only a couple of miles distant. There couldn’t be no water at all here. And still the strangely other, foreign magic bounced on the breeze, taunting her. 

From a height, she looked down, picked out her target - who was now annoying some elves - pointed Mjolnir downwards and _flew_. The air zoomed by.

Mjolnir connected with the giant’s head with a crack that rattled through Jane’s body. This time, the giant made to step forward, flailing with its arms, then staggered and began to fall. Its topple was slow, almost graceful, until it hit the ground and shook the entire valley. Rocks shuddered down the mountains.

Jane let out a small cheer to herself. ‘I’m totally Thor,’ she told herself. ‘I am definitely winning at this.’

Then she turned back to the rest of the battle. What she saw dimmed her own triumph: hers was only the second giant to fall, while around the valley she could see elves and horses fallen. They had more people, but the sheer size and resistance to damage of the giants was hard to overcome.

One of the giants saw her and her victory and lumbered towards her, sword raised. Jane swung Mjolnir, pulling at wind and air currents and twisting them around each other until they followed her with ease. The dust and debris in the twister flamed and burned and she could feel the sting on her face and her arms. She reached for colder air, but still could find none, so instead she held the burning vortex, growing it, pulling in more and more wind boiling wind until she thought she could hold on no longer. The giant battled through the burning wind, not harmed by the flames. It reached for her and she flew higher. And then, incredibly, it reached for her again as it began, ever-so-slowly, to take off. 

‘Here we go,’ she mumbled to herself as she hauled in more wind and air and pulled her and her captive upwards, ever-spinning. The giant screamed but Jane had seen all of this before. 

Then she dropped the vortex. The winds surrounded her and buoyed her and begged her and she forced them apart and back into nothing and it felt like ripping apart skin but still she did it. 

The giant fell to the ground, screaming as it did, hitting another as it fell. Both stayed down.

Jane let herself fall to the ground beside her three victories. She no longer allowed herself to feel smug, seeing the dozens of giants left standing and the elves who’d fallen littering the ground. How could they win? 

Her legs shook. She gripped Mjolnir more tightly than ever. ‘Come on,’ she said to herself. ‘Back to it.’

And then her body filled with pain as she was sent flying through the air. 

She crashed into one of the machines that dotted the valley. There were maybe fifteen to twenty identical-looking machines: glowing metal boxes, each guarded by one or two of the giants. The one she hit crumpled easily under the force of impact. Jane groaned and then a second later shouted in pain. The machine was, of course, burning hot beneath her, and she pulled herself out of the twisted corpse of the metal and staggered upright. Her armour had mostly protected her, but her upper arms were still bare and already badly burned.

The two giants who’d been guarding her machine had hurled insults at the giant who’d thrown her into it, but now they were bearing down on her. Jane clenched her fists, readying herself. She could do a loop - hit both in one. She might not drop them, but she would at least hurt them a bit.

Then she felt the air change. Something… colder on the breeze. She hesitated. It wasn’t _cold_. In fact it was still burning. But somewhere out there, the weather was on her side.

She turned back to the machine she’d destroyed and found herself staring at it. Could it-?

‘THOR, STAY AWAKE,’ shouted a voice behind her. She spun to see one of her attackers half way through a sword swing, barely feet from slicing her in half and she yelled and raised Mjolnir at the last second, deflecting the attack and shattering the sword. Giant pieces of blade flew past her and she let out a shaky breath.

Aelsa, still on her horse, flew up in front of the second giant and aimed her bow at its face. Whatever uncharitable thoughts Jane had had about bows and arrows, they vanished when she saw the giant’s face freeze up, coated in frozen water. It was already melting, but for a moment the giant was immobile and helpless, and Aelsa had readied her sword.

Jane ran, jumped and threw herself into the air, falling into flight easily, building up speed as she flew around and around the other giant, ignoring its screams and ducking its flails. She was faster. The air currents followed her readily, and this time when she reached for colder ones, she found the edge of one. 

Finally, she altered her course and flung herself at its head, smashing it, sending the giant careening to the floor.

Aelsa was still in flight, her own giant having toppled.

‘You fight well enough, Thor, but you must not distract yourself. Asgardians are not as immortal as they think they are.’

‘I know. Sorry. Thank you,’ said Jane. Aelsa nodded, but before she could fly off Jane called again. ‘Can your people destroy the rest of those machines?’ She pointed at the twisted lump that had shuddered to a halt underneath her body.

‘Why?’

‘I think… I think they’re terraforming. Even if we kill all the fire giants, if we don’t stop the machines, this world’s still going to boil.’

Aelsa looked to the ground at the machine Jane had accidentally destroyed. ‘You are certain?’

‘The weather… the weather is right again, over here.’ And it was. She’d not realised just how wrong it had felt before, now that she could find a cooler stream of wind. 

‘It shall be done,’ said Aelsa, and she flew off.

Jane landed to briefly inspect the machine and do what she could to confirm her theory. It didn’t make sense, as a piece of machinery, but then it had been built with magic. Still, even in the ruins she could see how it flowed, how the power worked, and she smiled grimly before taking to the skies once more.

She could see Aelsa had assigned a group of her elves to the machines, and she herself focussed on the rest of the machines too, before the giants realised what she was doing. She flew over one, then divebombed, avoiding the guards, sending an angry streak of lightning that merely annoyed the fire giants but was calculated to cripple the metal machinery. They’d been built with fire in mind, so they couldn’t be melted, and they’d been built from magic so she couldn’t cut a wire. But she had a magic of her own, and that could disrupt them enough to break them.

The terraforming device she’d attacked began to let off the wrong kind of smoke, and Jane sped onto the next, feeling the breeze at her back once more.

By the time ten were broken, the weather was Jane’s again. She flew up and up, calling colder and colder air to her. Her burns stopped stinging, but that wasn’t what she was doing. Instead she was going to make it _freeze_. Coldness was just a lack of energy. Surely it couldn’t be that hard to strip a sky of its energy.

Clouds began to gather around her. 

Below her, the tiny figures of the elves began to regroup and retreat. She could clearly see and hear the giants jeering, some of them assuming a victory. Some of them, though, began to look to the sky.

The first rain began to fall. Jane kept going, kept searching for colder air and forcing warmer air to cool. The rain became sleet, became hail. The fire giants were retreating, shouting and screaming, under cover of the mountains. Jane stayed in the sky. She could feel the cold itself now on her arms. It was a relief. But as she forced the weather to be colder and colder, it began to burn as much as the heat had done.

Beneath her, the fires were extinguished, the lava river solid rock, the rest of the terraforming machines buried in ice and snow. She could still see the glow of some of the giants, though, she she didn’t know how many would emerge once she stopped, so she kept going.

The storm was beautiful. Cold and uncompromising and glittering, perfect whiteness at her feet. The weather here had been denied for so long now it was only too happy to obey her command and freeze, taking her with it. Her whole body felt heavy and solid and wasn’t moving. Every inhale of breath felt like spikes in her lungs. The snow fell, colder and colder, the air emptier and emptier of its energy. Her arm was slowing. Her grip on Mjolnir was frozen. Her eyes burned even through her helm. 

Then out of the white came green and gold and brown. She just about made out Aelsa’s face as she was snatched from the air and onto the horse. She shut her eyes.


	14. Ash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane Foster has got enough on her plate, what with being a full time researcher, giving lectures, applying for grants, writing books, and consulting for Stark Industries. When Thor drops off the face of the universe and leaves her on Earth with no clues as to where he is, she doesn’t know what to do or how to find him.
> 
> Then an attack on Stark Industries changes everything, and she finds herself getting thrown into a life that she’s previously only watched from the sidelines, and where getting punched through a wall is suddenly just an average day of the week.

When Jane came to, she was buried beneath a pile of cloaks, beside a roaring fire. Her whole body was aching and her arms and face stung in the heat as much as they had in the cold. Mjolnir was still gripped in her hands, knuckles white. She was also _starving_. Her stomach was aching and grumblling so loudly she was surprised it hadn’t been mistaken for more thunder.

It was snowing lightly, but around the fire, the elves laughed and talked and shouted. The air smelled of bread and meat and warmth, making her mouth water, even though the camp was inside a burrowed out snowdrift.

Jane struggled to sit, pushing off cloaks and coats, her whole body protesting at the movement. She levered herself up. In her movement, one of the elves spotted her.

‘Come, join us, Lady! Though I should keep a cloak - your storm seems here to last.’

Jane leaned down to pick one up, but felt herself stumble slightly. Then arms appeared out of nowhere and held her steady, picking a single cloak and wrapping her in it. It was Aelsa.

‘Welcome back, Thor,’ she said, with a smile. ‘I think perhaps you should eat.’

Nodding fervently, Jane allowed herself to be led to sit beside Aelsa, who provided her with a huge bowl of stew. Jane grasped for it and, with shaking hands, near downed it in one gulp. When she looked up again, wiping her mouth and chin with one hand to catch a couple of drips, she found Aelsa regarding her with some amusement.

‘Uh… thanks,’ she said at last, feeling her cheeks redden. 

Aelsa’s lip twitched. ‘If there is one thing you can always count on, it is an Asgardian eating their food,’ she said. Jane was still hungry and her stomach gave another gurgle, and Aelsa signalled to someone and more food was brought. ‘Help yourself,’ she said. ‘Today you’ve saved many of our lives. I think we may provide you with the energy you’ve expended on your magic.’

For a while, Jane ate in silence, filling herself with warmth and energy. She thought maybe she understood Thor’s heavy diet for the first time. If he felt anything like she did after expending his powers, she was impressed with his restraint when he ate with her. The elves around her were happily retelling each other tales of the battle, as well as making plans for the future of Kollosi itself. 

‘What happened, after I…?’ she asked eventually, once she was feeling more like herself.

‘Those giants that weren’t frozen were slow and easily dispatched,’ said Aesla. ‘Even though we did have to change to winter armour to do so.’

‘Right,’ said Jane. ‘Sorry, I might have screwed up the weather here for a bit. Or a lot. I’m not sure.’

‘No more so than the giants did themselves,’ Aelsa reassured her. ‘In truth, I did not expect this victory, and certainly not so easily. We owe you much.’

Jane did her best to shrug it off and muttered vaguely, reaching for some more bread.

Aelsa’s eyes sparkled. ‘And a _modest_ Asgardian too,’ she said. ‘You are definitely not the norm, Lady. You are much different from your predecessor, as well as having prettier features.’

‘Uh…’ Jane felt her face burning for another reason. She was definitely not used to this sort of thing, but Aelsa’s tone was pretty unambiguous. ‘I’m, uh.. what? Sorry? Um. I don’t- Um.’

She ducked her head at Aelsa’s slightly amused smile, then scratched an upper arm absentmindedly and then swore a second later at the sudden pain. Her burns from the fight had not yet healed. Aelsa knocked her hand away gently and then reached into a leather bag beside her and extracted a small metal tin. 

‘Here,’ she said, ‘let me. For all the speed you heal, there seems to be no reason to draw it out.’

Shrugging off her both her borrowed fur cloak and pushing back her red cape, Jane allowed Aelsa to apply some medicinal ointment, concentrating firmly on the distance over the other woman’s shoulder. The ointment stunk strongly of mouldy nettles, but it relieved the itch and the pain almost immediately. Sighing with relief, Jane even reached up to pull off her helmet - after all, her face would mean nothing to the elves - and allowed Aelsa to smear it on her cheeks, even though she wrinkled her nose at the smell.

‘What will you do now?’ she asked Aelsa, hoping to move the topic away from flirting she wasn’t capable of handling.

‘I shall let my parents know that Kollosi is ours, at least until the next time,’ said Aelsa. ‘Perhaps I shall even live here for a time. Unless there is another fight to be had.’ She grinned suddenly and Jane found herself laughing. ‘What of you, Thor?’

‘Oh, I’ve gotta go see Odin and let him know it’s all sorted,’ she said. ‘Then I want to hunt for the actual, original Thor.’

‘Really?’ Aelsa raised her eyebrows. ‘Do you not enjoy it?’

‘Getting beaten and burned and frostbitten all on the same day?’

‘And then winning a great victory and saving many lives.’

‘Well, sure, but the other Thor could do that,’ said Jane. ‘I have a day job.’

Aelsa laughed. ‘You are a fascinating creature,’ she said with another very unambiguous _look_. Jane blushed again. ‘Although I do not believe that you won’t miss it if you return the hammer to its original owner.’

‘Well,’ admitted Jane, ‘flying is a lot of fun. I’ll probably want to borrow Mjolnir a few times.’

‘I’ll lend you a horse if you wish,’ said Aelsa. ‘When your quest is complete and you have your _day job_ once more, you must visit Alfheim.’

‘Really?’ said Jane hopefully. 

‘Of course,’ said Aelsa. ‘And if you really wish it, I won’t even flirt with you.’ Jane spluttered, which made Aesla laugh some more. ‘Now come: eat some more. Do not feel embarrassed: I have seen how much that level of magic takes from you. If you return to join a search, then you must have your energy.’

Jane happily ploughed her way through more food. It was a lot easier than trying to work out what to do with someone flirting with her. Her Thor knew how to handle this sort of thing very gracefully. It unfortunately appeared that wasn’t a skill transferred by Mjolnir, even if his appetite had been.

Eventually, she stood to go. ‘May I take one of these?’ she asked, pointing to a pile of the fire giants’ weapons the elves had created. ‘I feel like I should prove to Odin I’ve done something.’

‘Help yourself,’ said Aesla.

Jane picked up a dagger that was over two metres long. It was large enough that she couldn’t imagine wielding it, but the weight wasn’t a problem. Her own strength was still constantly baffling. ‘Thanks,’ she said. ‘I should go.’

Aelsa stood too. ‘Will you walk with me, for a moment?’ she asked.

‘Uh, OK,’ agreed Jane.

As they turned to go, Jane hauling the stupid dagger behind her in the snow, she thought she heard one of the elves whistle and she hesitated for a moment. She certainly didn’t want to end up in an awkward situation. But when she turned to Aelsa, she saw something serious in the other’s face, so she kept going until they were behind the snowdrift, out of eyes and ears of the elves.

‘I hope you will forgive me for what I am about to say,’ said Aelsa. ‘I fear I may be imagining things. I must be. And to say this as a Princess is to court war with Asgard. I hope you can understand that I wish only to help, and you will take it in the spirit it’s intended.’

‘Erm, sure,’ said Jane, frowning.

‘Odin Allfather sent you here to battle, did he not?’

‘Well, yeah, I-’

‘Are you sure that he wanted you to win?’

Jane blinked. ‘What?’

‘I- I do not know. It seems impossible. I hope I speak nonsense. But if I were sending help to allies in need of aid, I would not send one person, untested. I saw Thor himself, not half a year ago, so you can only have wielded Mjolnir for mere months.’

‘I’m sure… I’m sure he just needed to test me,’ said Jane. ‘I mean, it’s the only thing that makes any sense. He could have just taken Mjolnir from me. He can wield it, you know.’

Aelsa hesitated. ‘I hope you are right,’ she said. ‘Please understand I wish for no misunderstanding with Asgard. I just… I hope you are cautious.’

Jane swallowed and nodded. ‘I will be,’ she said. ‘Thank you for telling me.’ Aelsa nodded and they stood in silence for a few moments. ‘I should go,’ said Jane at last.

‘Be careful, Thor,’ said Aelsa. ‘I hope to see you again.’

‘Me too,’ said Jane.

Aelsa leaned over to kiss her cheek and then smiled. ‘As I said earlier, you are far, far nicer to look at than the original.’

‘Oh my god,’ muttered Jane. ‘I’m going. I have a boyfriend. I’m absolutely going.’

Laughing, apparently unfazed by the boyfriend thing, Aelsa stepped back.

‘Heimdall!’ called Jane. ‘I could use a trip back!’

The Bifrost shot down and surrounded her. Her last view of Aelsa was her face, back to being worried, and then the rainbow tugged her upwards. Jane laughed despite herself. That she’d been given the right to simply call this down and travel between the realms was perhaps the most wonderful gift of hiding who she was.

As she landed, she staggered with the giant dagger and then straightened, looking up to see Heimdall, as steadfast and shining as ever.

‘Well fought, Lady Thunder,’ he said. ‘The Allfather will be pleased with your victory.’

‘Yeah,’ said Jane, as a sudden flash of fear coiled in her stomach. Aelsa’s suggestion seemed absurd, but Odin had set her a near-impossible task. She looked up at Heimdall, so calm and peaceful, and smiling ever so slightly down at her. ‘You do know, don’t you?’ she said. ‘Who I am?’

Heimdall’s smile seemed to widen the tiniest bit. ‘I know you are acting as Thor the Thunderer, wielder of Mjolnir,’ he replied. ‘And I know you honour his name even as you search for him.’

Jane eyed him suspiciously, but he didn’t seem inclined to say more. ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘I’m pretty sure you do know though.’

‘I did not see you on Midgard before the ship of Zematrians landed and you arrived to assist. Bade as I am to watch Midgard for invasion, I reported what I saw to His Majesty. I had no other course. He was disappointed I had seen no sight of you before then, but in my search for Prince Thor I have perhaps neglected Midgard.’ He was still smiling.

Jane grinned. ‘Thanks, Heimdall, I owe you one,’ she said. ‘Anyway, I’m gonna go find Odin and tell him I’ve done his stupid quest. Let me know if you see Thor anywhere, would you?’

‘Of course, Lady,’ said Heimdall, with a deep nod.

She flew to the palace, hauling the ridiculous Fire Giant dagger with her. She only really had it to be dramatic, and at that moment it felt a bit silly.

When she entered the throne room, stalked forward to the throne, tossed the oversized dagger at the foot of the stairs and said, ‘Done. Can I go look for Thor now?’ it felt more than worth the effort. Odin and his advisors regarded her with some surprise. She might have been insulted, but instead it just made her uneasy. Had they _all_ expected her to fail?

‘You fought quickly,’ said Odin, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

‘So ask Heimdall for a damn report,’ said Jane. ‘Kollosi is Alfheim’s territory again. That’s what you asked. So you’ll accept me now?’ She folded her arms. ‘All I want to do is find your son and give him back Mjolnir.’ _And then possibly marry him and travel the Nine Realms with him,_ she mentally added, but Odin didn’t need to know that.

Odin regarded her in silence for a moment longer, but then stood. ‘Very well,’ he said abruptly. ‘Follow me. I will show you what I know and then send you on your course.’

Relief flooded Jane, and she followed Odin out of the throne room and into the palace. He walked without speaking to her, allowing a silence to hang awkwardly between them which Jane didn’t know how to break. Instead she just looked around herself as discreetly as she could. The high ceilinged, golden rooms and corridors often looked much the same as each other, but every so often they would arrive somewhere that was distinct and she did her best to memorise her path. Once or twice, she saw somewhere familiar from her last visit. 

At first as they walked they saw guards and others, who greeted her with a stare and Odin with a respectful bow. His only words were short greetings in return. The further they walked, though, the less people they saw, as they travelled further into the palace. There were no windows or outside views any more, and every set of stairs they came to, they went down. Jane felt uneasy, so far away from the sky and the weather and the light. 

_Something is wrong on Asgard,_ she reminded herself. Was she starting to feel what Thor had felt?


	15. Aliens Stole My Dad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane Foster has got enough on her plate, what with being a full time researcher, giving lectures, applying for grants, writing books, and consulting for Stark Industries. When Thor drops off the face of the universe and leaves her on Earth with no clues as to where he is, she doesn’t know what to do or how to find him.
> 
> Then an attack on Stark Industries changes everything, and she finds herself getting thrown into a life that she’s previously only watched from the sidelines, and where getting punched through a wall is suddenly just an average day of the week.

Eventually, Odin came to a door half-hidden behind a wall hanging on one side of the corridor. He unlocked it, and gestured for her to precede him. They’d not seen another person or said a word for five minutes.

_He didn’t want her to win._

Jane ducked to the side automatically without knowing why as she stepped into the pitch dark room, but she found herself on the top of a staircase and she stumbled helplessly for a moment before she felt a shove behind her. She fell roughly, crashing onto the stairs and rolling down a few more before coming to a halt, bruises from her previous fight abruptly twinging to remind her they existed. 

Above, the door clicked closed. For a second the room was pitch black before the light from Odin’s sceptre appeared.

‘What the hell-?’ managed Jane, as she stumbled to her feet, gripping Mjolnir. The dark staircase was empty of any people or objects. The walls themselves were rough, bored from rock perhaps, and the air smelled stale with disuse.

‘Who are you?’ demanded Odin.

There was a burst of light from his staff and Jane lept to the side to dodge it, nearly falling further down the stairs. 

‘I’m Thor, and you can deal with it,’ she snarled, bracing herself to fight. But she couldn’t fight Thor’s _dad_ she told herself stupidly. Had he lost his mind? Was he possessed? Was that a thing?

The light from his sceptre burst forward once more, clipped her shoulder and sent her soaring backwards, shouting in pain. The clatter of her armour on the stairs was nothing compared to the sudden stab to her shoulder where she’d been hit. She lay on the floor for a moment, dazed, trying to remember who she was, before her mind abruptly returned to her and she struggled to her feet and to the side. As she put weight on the arm she’d been hit on, it sent a searing pain throughout her entire torso and she swore under her breath. What the hell was wrong with him? Surely even he couldn’t deny Mjolnir’s worthiness enchantment this much? What good would killing her do?

‘Ha!’ laughed Odin. ‘You’re no Thor! Even he took longer before he was crawling on the ground. You’re nothing! Just one of his foolish girl soldiers who thinks because she took the prince to bed and she can pick up a hammer, she can fight!’

Something in her snapped, and she launched lightning at him, flowing through her aching shoulder and arm and Mjolnir and _up _. He dodged it, expecting her attack, but then stumbled and staggered down a few more steps. He righted himself quickly, but Jane had jumped to her feet and thrown herself up the stairs at him.__

__The red-black death exploded out from his hand and flung at her, a burning, screaming cloud of the end of the universe. It touched her hands and pulled her in and covered her head and she couldn’t breathe again. The _Aether_. She felt it in her before she saw it, felt the way it pulled at her heart and wanted her and-_ _

__‘NO!’_ _

__Lightning crackled through the air and forced it back, burning through it and around it and back to its source. Odin took the full force of the lightning even as the Aether returned to him. He staggered and cursed. And then he wasn’t Odin._ _

__Jane felt her blood run cold._ _

__‘Loki?’ she managed._ _

__Without the magical guise of Odin, Loki looked much the same as she remembered: tall and cold and angry. He was thinner though - his eyes almost sunken in his face._ _

__He hit her again with the force from the sceptre, sent her tumbling backwards and screaming. ‘Now you know who I am,’ he said, eyes wild as he laughed. ‘I’ll learn who you are, soon enough!’ For a moment his eyes glowed red. Then the Aether was around her again, burning her and choking her and seeking her out. She belonged to it and she would never escape._ _

__She staggered forward towards Loki, her entire body shouting with pain and begging for release. His eyes widened: he didn’t expect this. All the same, the sceptre’s blast sent her falling to the ground once more, even as the Aether retreated. She felt the stone stairs crack as she hit them, felt her body protest and an arm break and tasted blood on her lips._ _

__Loki raised his hands to defend himself as she held up Mjolnir, but instead Jane swung and flew and shot up the stairs, past him, crashing through the door. It splintered out into the light, her with it. The sceptre’s blast just clipped her on the back as she flew, pain exploding within her once more. It threw her against the wall for a moment, before she fell and toppled to the floor, panting for breath and struggling to move her aching limbs._ _

__‘I’ll tell them it’s you!’ she gasped out, a useless, panicked threat as she heard Loki climbing back up the stairs behind the door._ _

__He laughed. He didn’t even sound worried. Even when he reappeared through the splintered remains of the door, as Odin, cold amusement filled his eyes. ‘Will you? Will you see Asgard fall into fighting over the crown? See this land descend into civil war? There’s no heir to be found, you know. I made sure of it. And even if you find him, I will kill you both. With the Aether and the Odinforce, Thor himself could not stop me. What hope do you have, you pathetic whore?’ He raised the sceptre once more. Jane clenched her fists, felt Mjolnir in her hand and _flew_._ _

__She heard the crash of the force from the sceptre strike the floor where she’d been, heard Loki swear in Odin’s voice, and then heard his scream for the guards which seemed to echo throughout the whole palace._ _

__‘The false Thor is not who she says! She tried to kill me for the throne! Have her found and have her executed!’_ _

__Guards appeared in the corridor in front of Jane, wielding electrified swords. She didn’t even slow down. Mjolnir sent them tumbling like bowling pins, and the arc of electricity from the swords where they brushed her merely tickled. She flew through twisting corridors, and ran where she couldn’t fly, knocking over guards and anyone or thing who got in her way. She didn’t dare stop. She hardly dared breathe. _Loki_. Loki had taken Thor. _ _

__Then, at last, she found a window, and out she dived, falling and spinning to avoid any projectile weaponry, before catapulting upwards, over the palace._ _

__She was looking for a particular balcony. She’d only seen it from being a few floors above it in the palace itself. Thor had pointed it out as the balcony to some of his rooms. It was foolish to go back inside but this was her last chance to see if he’d left _anything_ that might help her. There didn’t seem to be much hope: if Loki had been the one who’d taken him then it had nothing to do with his search for the Infinity Stones. She had nowhere else to look, though, and nowhere else to go. _ _

__Landing as silently as she could, she hurried inside the vast bedroom that lay before her, before stopping and leaning against a wall to pant. Her whole body was crying with pain after the hits from the sceptre. From _Loki_. _ _

__

__She let out a muffled sob. It had seemed so simple. Defeat bad guys. Convince Odin of trustworthiness. Find Thor. Now she had a whole bunch of innocent people calling for her blood and even if she told them Odin was Loki, it wouldn’t help. If they believed her then Loki was right: who would be king without him? He’d played his cards very well._ _

__Loki had given her one thing, though: Thor was alive. Alive and waiting to be found._ _

__Clenching her firsts, Jane stepped forward again. She took in as much of her surroundings as she could, drinking in where Thor had lived all his life before he’d met her. Huge, ornate, golden, just like the rest of the palace. Perfectly tidy, too. Maintained by a huge staff, he’d told her before. She eyed the beautiful, _huge_ fur covered bed and thought how nice it would be to sleep for just a little while. Her body seemed to struggle for every step, joints shouting for her to stop, to rest, to heal and more than anything she wanted to bury her face in a pillow and just forget._ _

__Forcing herself to hurry on, she began to look through the rooms, hunting for some sign of his presence. Everything was tidy and silent. His staff were efficient, apparently. Nowhere did his presence seem to cling in the same way it had when he’d lived with her. There, in their shared space, there’d been mess and photos and books and papers and mud trekked into the carpet and wine spilled on her mom’s best couch cushions. There they’d lived. Here in the palace, it was pristine and beautiful, but she couldn’t feel him the way she desperately craved._ _

__In the end, she found a large and intricately carved wooden desk, in a room filled with books in cases. This, at least, looked lived with. She ran her hands fondly down the wood, thinking that one day she would like to come back and read some of his books. Then she began to hunt through his papers._ _

__At first it was administrative, royalty stuff. He had legal documents, ledgers, letters imploring for help, and news bulletins. In his own hand, which she oddly recognised despite it being written in runes translated by the Alltongue, were some brief notes, possibly to some underling. He wrote about documents that needed acquiring, about an investigation to open into one of the local lords suspected of tax avoidance, and about aid to be sent to an area with a poor harvest. It was hilariously _human_ , in its weird way. She never really thought about the bureaucracy of rule: of what a prince must do when he wasn’t fighting enemies and saving the world. _ _

__Eventually, digging deeper, she found his notes about his latest venture. For his usual writing style, they were shockingly brief and to the point, detailing what he knew about the six infinity stones. There was nothing new there: it was all what he’d discussed with the Avengers. The only addition since that time was a brief addendum to his notes on the Aether:__

>  _ _
> 
> _Jane believes the Aether to be on Svartalfheim after a dream. I hoped she might have escaped this, but can such magic ever be truly lost? Her dreams are so far the only consequence._
> 
> _None have yet told me how a mortal could survive the feat she did, but perhaps none realise how strong she is. As well, no one knows anything of the Aether except its destructive abilities, so perhaps it is only natural that there is nothing anyone can tell me. I must persuade my father to have it studied, when it is once again in our possession. And I must ask Jane if she would like to be the one doing the studying, or if she would prefer those on Asgard do the task._
> 
> __

Jane gave a soft sigh. He was very sweet. She wasn’t sure she wanted to go anywhere near the Aether again, especially not after her fight with Loki. But it was nice of him to think of her. 

__‘Move, and I shall slit your throat.’_ _

__Jane froze. There was a sword at her neck. She hadn’t noticed anyone approaching, too distracted by her reading, and she cursed silently. She’d been caught._ _


	16. Code Name Verity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane Foster has got enough on her plate, what with being a full time researcher, giving lectures, applying for grants, writing books, and consulting for Stark Industries. When Thor drops off the face of the universe and leaves her on Earth with no clues as to where he is, she doesn’t know what to do or how to find him.
> 
> Then an attack on Stark Industries changes everything, and she finds herself getting thrown into a life that she’s previously only watched from the sidelines, and where getting punched through a wall is suddenly just an average day of the week.

The voice though was familiar, and she suddenly realised who it was.

‘Sif!’ she said. She turned. The sword nicked her throat as she did but she grinned at Sif anyway, wiping away drop of blood with her free hand.

Sif stared at her. ‘Are you entirely mad?’ she said.

‘Uh, honestly?’ said Jane. ‘Right now is not a good time to ask because I haven’t really slept in a long time. Unless you count being unconscious.’

‘You’re a traitor to Asgard,’ said Sif, seeming to regain her poise, ‘and you have stolen something that belongs to a dear friend of mine.’

Jane scoffed. ‘Do you really think anyone could steal Mjolnir?’

‘Powerful magic might,’ argued Sif. She didn’t sound like she believed it.

‘Look, Lady Sif, please,’ said Jane. She hesitated and debated throwing off her disguise, but who knew where Loki was hiding. She couldn’t afford for him to find out or Midgard was in a lot of trouble. ‘I just want to find Thor. Odin is… I can’t even explain it!’ she burst out, suddenly feeling helpless. ‘I don’t know what to do. All I want is for Thor to come back here and take his stupid hammer so I can go back to being _me_.’ She glanced down at Mjolnir. ‘Sorry,’ she said, reflexively, ‘but you’re a lot of work.’

‘So you wish for me to let a traitor go simply on her word?’

‘My word, and Mjolnir’s,’ said Jane. ‘And Princess Aelsa of Alfheim, whose warriors I just helped save. Look, I don’t want to fight you.’

‘I will not lose that easily, Lady,’ said Sif, frowning.

‘Exactly!’ said Jane. ‘I mean, I’m OK at fighting these days, but you’ve been doing it for thousands of years. I’d probably get the shit beaten out of me. And then I’d have to do the Thor thing and electrocute you just to escape and I really don’t want to hurt you even a little bit.’

Sif opened and shut her mouth a couple of times, frowning. ‘I- what?’ she said at last. 

Jane thought she heard noises outside of the room and stiffened. She did not want this to turn into a fight. She was going to have to fly for it.

‘Look,’ she said, with one last ditch hope, ‘who do you think is more likely to have been tricked? Odin? Or Mjolnir?’

Sif regarded her for a moment. The noise outside got louder.

‘Go,’ she said at last. ‘Go north. I have a friend there that lives on an island in the north. She will help you.’

‘ _Thank you_!’ breathed Jane. Sif stepped back, face stern but decided. Jane reached for Mjolnir and took off.

~*~

An hour later, as she flew low over the north of Asgard, Jane was wondering if Sif was having her on. “An island” was not helpful. Asgard might be smaller than Earth, but it was large enough to have plenty of bodies of water with islands. None of them so far had looked lived on, but for all Jane knew she was looking for a cave.

Sighing, ignoring the ache in her limbs that hadn’t healed from her fights that day, she swooped upwards again, taking in as much of the land as she could. She was very near the edge, so looking directly down gave green-covered hills, forests, and snow-topped mountains, all of them with rivers and lakes sliding between them, down into valleys. Many with islands. Looking to her left though, and the world ended. It still looked _wrong_ whenever Jane saw it out the corner of her eyes. The ground stopped and the blackness of space began.

Truthfully though, for all the wrong it looked, she would gladly live there, staring out into space, at the stars. She envied Heimdall his job. If she could choose one Asgardian whose powers to steal, it would probably have been Heimdall’s and not Thor’s.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw it, and she laughed. It was not an island in water. It was an island in _space_ , off the edge of the world.

Jane changed her course and flew towards it. As she got closer, she could see a large wooden hall at the foot of a hill that took up most of the island. There were trees dotted on the hill, but neatly cultivated land too in ordered squares. She could now see, too, livestock moving around and outside. Ridiculously and amazingly, there was a wooden jetty, of a sort. The decking around the house stuck out and right to the edge, over the abyss. Docked to it were a couple of different sized skiffs like the ones from the city. It really was an _island_.

She landed mid-way up the jetty and walked towards the house. It was three storeys, each with balconies and wooden decking surrounding it, as well as the large, open-air windows that she rather liked. When she was Jane they made her very cold, but she still liked being able to clamber out of a window at any point to see the stars.

‘Do not move, or I will shoot you where you stand.’

‘ _Really_?’ said Jane, before she could stop herself. She had just about had enough of being threatened that day.

The woman speaking stood on the balcony of the second floor of the house, with bow and arrow pointed at Jane. She was black, and looked about the same age as Jane for all that that meant nothing. Her long, tightly curled hair was tied back from her face with a leather tie, and she, like Thor and what seemed like half of Asgard, wore a mixture of leather and armour. At Jane’s response, she raised an eyebrow.

‘Look, sorry,’ said Jane, ‘I’ve just had a lot of this today.’

‘’Well if you will fly around Asgard carrying the weapon of its favourite son, I don’t know what you expect,’ said the woman, but she looked amused. ‘Why are you here?’

‘Um,’ said Jane. There didn’t seem to be much good in sugar-coating it. ‘Odin has told everyone I’m a traitor and I’m trying to kill him and seize the throne when all I actually want to do is find Thor. Sif said I should come here.’

At this point the woman sighed and dropped her bow. ‘She would do that,’ she said, deeply sarcastic. ‘Come inside. Take a drink. If the king’s men come here I expect you to hold me hostage so that I may go blameless.’

‘Sure,’ said Jane, bemused. 

Inside, she sank into a chair beside a fire and the woman provided her with a tankard.

‘Who are you?’ she asked.

‘Just… Thor is probably better,’ said Jane.

‘All right, _Thor_ ,’ she said. ‘You may call me Valkyrie.’ She considered Jane. ‘You truly seek to find Thor?’

‘Yes! The longer I spend with Mjolnir, the more bruises I get,’ said Jane. She wondered if everyone was going to think she wanted to stay as Thor.

Valkyrie continued to watch her. ‘I’ve been aiding Sif in her search,’ she said at last. ‘Though in truth I would take neither as King.’

‘Who do you want as king?’ asked Jane.

‘I dislike royalty,’ said Valkyrie. ‘I would have none.’

Jane blinked. Thor had admitted there were people on Asgard that didn’t like monarchy, but he’d said they were few and far between. ‘Then why help find Thor?’

‘Sif is my friend,’ said Valkyrie. ‘Why do you?’

‘I said: I don’t want to be Thor.’

Valkyrie quirked an eyebrow again. ‘Few go on dangerous quests and risk their lives simply out of a hope for inaction. Indeed, if you simply put Mjolnir down when someone needed you, you would fast become unworthy.’

‘Thor’s a… friend,’ mumbled Jane at last. ‘Have you got anywhere with your search?’ she asked then, in part to move the conversation on, but mostly because she did truly hope for an answer. ‘And can I help with anything?’

Pursing her lips, Valkyrie took a drink from her tankard. ‘We are trying to detect Prince Thor’s magic from where he disappeared. He is strong, even without Mjolnir by his side. If we could find a trace, we should be able to follow it.’

‘But you haven’t?’ asked Jane, trying to ignore the hope that drained from her. If they couldn’t even find his magic, what hope did they have?

‘None as yet,’ admitted Valkyrie. ‘We’ve scoured the city by cover of night. We’ve even tried his rooms at the palace, the shipyards, Heimdall’s observatory. There is nothing that we can find except old magic that leads us nowhere.’

‘Oh,’ said Jane, her voice small. Then: ‘Oh,’ she said, sitting up. ‘OH. Valkyrie! Wait! What if…’ She broke off while she formulated her thoughts. ‘What if he went missing on Svartalfheim?’ she asked. ‘Not Asgard.’

‘Impossible,’ said Valkyrie. ‘Sif and his other friends saw him return.’

‘What if they didn’t see him? What if they saw a shapeshifter? What if he was attacked on Svartalfheim and vanished there and then Lo- someone came back, pretending to be him?’ Jane had stood up without even thinking about it. Of course. Svartalfheim. It made perfect sense. ‘We have to go there. We need to see if we can-’

‘Hold for a moment,’ demanded Valkyrie, standing too. ‘We cannot simply go to Svartalfheim. Even if you weren’t a traitor, it is forbidden without the king’s permission. Heimdall would not permit it.’

‘Yes, but there are secret paths-’

‘And _secondly_ , Thor, do not think I did notice your slip of the tongue. You believe Loki to be alive.’

‘Oh,’ said Jane. 

‘And if that is the case, you must too believe he has tricked Odin in some way, or else he could not have attacked them on Svartalfheim.’

‘Yes, I-’ She hesitated and looked into Valkyrie’s eyes. She shouldn’t say. She could plunge Asgard into chaos. There could be civil war. ‘I’ve seen him. Loki. He’s Odin. Right now.’

Valkyrie’s eyes widened very slightly. ‘Well,’ she said. She put down her tankard, her mouth a grim line. ‘I must confess, I like this king less than the last.’

‘That’s putting it mildly,’ said Jane. ‘Can we get to Svartalfheim without Heimdall? Isn’t there that path right by the city?’

‘That was closed by Odin shortly after Thor and Loki escaped during the Convergence,’ said Valkyrie. ‘Sif told me as much. She was lucky to escape the treason charge for that particular endeavour. Odin Allfather has never been grateful for anyone saving the realms. It seems we must find for ourselves another route to Svartalfheim.’

‘I think I can help,’ said Jane. ‘Paths between the world are kinda… my thing. When I’m not Thor.’

Valkyrie used the holograms to build a magical map of Asgard. Across it, she could lay data. Not data as Jane was used to handling it, but she could take from Asgard’s equivalent of the internet information about weather, radiation, spikes of magic, gravitational flux, and much more. On any other day, Jane would have been shouting for joy at the sheer amount of information. Then and there, she was struggling. There was so much information, and so much of it she didn’t quite understand. As well as that, Asgard’s system of computing was so different to anything she’d ever experienced, so she had to learn that too.

Taking a deep breath, she pulled forward a chair and began to work, digging through her memory of all the work she’d done on Midgard. If she could detect wormholes there, she could damn well do it now that she needed to.

Eventually, with Valkyrie’s assistance, a pattern began to take shape, but then exhaustion crept up on her and she fell into a deep sleep.

~*~

‘ _Jane Foster_!’

The words jolted her out of her slumber and she jumped up, half grabbing for Mjolnir only to be faced with Sif, standing in front of her with folded arms.

‘Uh,’ said Jane. She felt her hair, but it was still long and blonde, so she was still Thor.

Sif raised an eyebrow. ‘I would have thought you might have mentioned it to prevent me from trying to kill you,’ she said, voice deeply sarcastic.

‘Um,’ said Jane. ‘Sorry? 

‘Excuse me, but who, exactly is Jane Foster?’ asked Valkyrie.

‘Brunnhilde, this is Jane,’ said Sif, still impatient. ‘Thor’s mortal lover. And apparently Thor too, at the moment.’

‘Girlfriend,’ corrected Jane. She didn’t really like the term “lover”. ‘And… Brunnhilde?’

‘Honestly, why didn’t you both introduce yourselves using your real names?’ said Sif. ‘Yes, this is Brunnhilde. Or Valkyrie. I don’t care any more what either of you is called.’

Jane glanced as Valkyrie and caught her eye. They both started laughing. Sif snorted and moved to one of the chairs and sat in it, shaking her head at them both.

‘How did you know it was me?’ asked Jane.

‘My brother, of course,’ said Sif, helping herself to some of Valkyrie’s long ignored tankard. ‘I arrived back on Asgard to find tales of another Thor, and of a traitor at that. I confess I found that hard to believe even before we met and I let you leave. Then before I came north I sought out my brother as I wished to check that you - Jane Foster - were safe and well and _on Midgard_. Heimdall was extremely evasive on the subject until I managed to work it out.’

‘Look, sorry, I didn’t- it’s not you. If I had to trust anyone it’d be you. But- in the palace- I didn’t know who was listening.’

‘Yes, I know, I know,’ said Sif, sounding a little mollified. ‘Does this map before me mean we are closer?’

‘Perhaps,’ said Valkyrie, or Brunnhilde. ‘Although Thor - Jane - brings news most grave, for all it helps us.’

With Sif’s eyes on her once more, Jane swallowed. She still felt Loki’s words deeply. A civil war on Asgard, with no king. ‘Odin… is Loki,’ she said. ‘In disguise.’ Sif’s jaw dropped open. Her hand crushed the tankard in her hand. ‘When I got here he sent me out to fight the Fire Giants to kill me. When that didn’t work he tried to do it himself, and in the fight his magic slipped and I saw him. He told me- he told me if anyone knew there’d be civil war. So I ran. And here I am.’

Sif let out a long, slow breath. Brunnhilde moved closer and put her arm on Sif’s shoulder. ‘We must find Thor,’ she said. ‘Unless there’s another heir you know of. For until we have an heir, you know that Loki speaks the truth.’

‘Yes, fine, that is all very well, but-’

‘Loki also has the Aether,’ said Jane. The other two drew in a sharp breath and Sif paled a little.

‘You did not mention this before,’ said Brunnhilde, with widened eyes.

‘No, I… didn’t think. But we need to find Thor, and then we’re all going to need to fight, and we’re going to need to bring our A game.’

‘We will have to unmask him, publically,’ said Sif at last. ‘Or else we will be the traitors and he the king, as you found, Jane.’

Jane nodded. ‘But first we need Thor,’ she said.

‘Or another heir,’ Brunnhilde pointed out.

Jane opened her mouth to argue but Sif got in first. ‘There are none who would unite the people. Thor’s cousins will all claim the land as their own and bring their own warriors to prove their strength. Even if we found some case for one of them to be the true heir, the others would not back down. Only Thor can bring peace.’

‘Right,’ said Jane. ‘So… that’s easy. Find Thor. Smash Loki. We can totally do that.’


	17. Monstrous Regiment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane Foster has got enough on her plate, what with being a full time researcher, giving lectures, applying for grants, writing books, and consulting for Stark Industries. When Thor drops off the face of the universe and leaves her on Earth with no clues as to where he is, she doesn’t know what to do or how to find him.
> 
> Then an attack on Stark Industries changes everything, and she finds herself getting thrown into a life that she’s previously only watched from the sidelines, and where getting punched through a wall is suddenly just an average day of the week.

Sif looked at the map. ‘Do you seek him on Asgard?’ she asked, frowning.

‘No,’ said Jane. ‘Brunnhilde said you couldn’t find a trace of him here.’

‘Jane thinks it was Loki you dined with that night,’ said Brunnhilde. Her voice was unexpectedly soft. ‘She believes Thor never returned from Svartalfheim, so that is where we must go.’

Sif’s lips tightened. ‘Loki… dined with us?’ she said at last. She clenched her fists. Jane knew they’d all been friends at one point, and even that Loki had shown an interest in Sif. She doubted Sif would be pleased about how much Thor had told her, though, so she said nothing. ‘Very well,’ said Sif at last. ‘That makes sense. Let us try it. How do we hope to get there?’

‘This is all the data we’ve got of potential areas of weakness between the worlds,’ said Jane. ‘We can’t use the Bifrost, so we’re looking for a secret way through, and my recent work on Midgard has been all about linking astronomical, meteorological and other on-the-spot data to places where the Bifrost has touched down. There’s a signature. It’s just harder for me here because I don’t understand all of this data, so all I’ve managed to do is identify twelve areas that look promising. I’m not sure how to-’

‘That one,’ said Sif, pointing at the map.

Jane looked at Brunnhilde. Brunnhilde looked at Jane.

‘OK, _how_?’ said Jane.

Sif gave them both a very bitter half-smile. ‘If Loki can use the knowledge of a childhood friendship to fool me through an evening, then I can use that same knowledge of the places he used to visit, and the places he would tell no one about.’ She sighed and looked at the map. ‘I followed him there once when he was angry over some petty slight. I meant only to encourage him to talk to his mother, or to Thor. He was furious when he saw me, moreso than I’d ever seen. I did not understand it, but he was protecting those caves.’

‘All right,’ said Jane. ‘Let’s go.’

‘Just one question, before we do,’ said Brunnhilde. ‘How, exactly, do we return to Asgard?’

‘From my work, it looks like these weak points between the worlds exist as a natural consequence of the wormhole network you guys call Yggdrasil,’ said Jane. ‘The Bifrost bridge creates a way through, but there are dozens of natural areas where the worlds are… close, and where bridges can form naturally with very little energy.’ She coughed. ‘That’s my hypothesis anyway. Which seems to be supported by the data.’

‘So we should be able to return, or even travel to another realm, through the same pathway on which we arrive?’ said Sif slowly.

‘Uh, I believe so, yeah,’ said Jane. ‘I haven’t, uh, been able to test it yet.’ The other two exchanged resigned glances.

‘Let us go, then,’ said Brunnhilde. ‘Jane, the kitchen is through there. Please pack food and flasks of water. I have heard the Dark World is barren, and if we are successful who knows where we shall end up.’

‘It is,’ said Jane, giving a slight shiver. ‘And cold. We might want coats or something.’ She considered. ‘Or I can probably warm it up.’

‘Save your strength,’ said Brunnhilde. ‘There is a cupboard to the right. Please bring three suitable cloaks.’ She turned to Sif. ‘Will you come ready the horses with me?’

Sif nodded, and as they left Jane saw Brunnhilde’s arm go to Sif’s. She hoped Sif was OK. She always thought of Loki as Thor’s brother, and rarely as a friend to anyone else. He’d deceived everyone in the realm, though, and she often forgot who that would include.

In Brunnhilde’s kitchen, she grabbed smoked meat and bread and cheese, and filled leather coated canteens to the brim. There were runes burned into the leather instructing the water to be clean. Jane considered them with a slight frown, wondering if it was simply a hope, or if there was actually some magic involved. Making a note to ask later, she helped herself to three heavy cloaks, as instructed, and followed the path Brunnhilde and Sif had take until she found the stables. 

Brunnhilde had more winged horses. Jane nervously petted one on the nose and reflected that all of this was lost on her. She knew a few people - Darcy included - who’d be in raptures, but she’d never been a horse person. Even she had to admit the winged ones were impressive though, and she watched as Brunnhilde and Sif hooked two up to a small chariot.

‘Does that thing fly?’ she asked incredulously.

‘Yes,’ said Sif, stroking one of the horses. ‘We don’t all have hammers, you know. Although I think you may need to ride with us. A chariot will attract less attention if seen than a woman with Mjolnir.’

‘Fair enough,’ agreed Jane, although she felt a little nervous about it, which seemed to amuse both Brunnhilde and Sif.

‘You are seeking to illegally visit the Dark Realm, and then to fight to find your loved one, and _then_ to fight his near-universally powerful brother,’ said Brunnhilde. ‘A horse-drawn chariot will not harm you.’

‘Besides,’ pointed out Sif, ‘if you fall out, you can fly.’

‘Ugh, fine, whatever,’ said Jane, clambering in with them. Sif secured the food Jane had brought even as the chariot started moving and Jane let out a muffled yelp and gripped the sides. ‘Shut up,’ she grumbled at the others when she saw them laughing.

Once they were flying it was a bit better, ridiculously. In the air they went smoothly, not like the bumpy ground. Jane was also now so used to the sight of the ground far beneath her that it was more of a comfort than anything, even if she could not alter her speed or destination as she chose. Hard to believe only a few weeks before that jumping out of Stark Tower had been terrifying.

The wind was loud, but Sif and Brunnhilde easily shouted over it, identifying landmarks below. Sometimes it was for Jane’s benefit: explaining the site of some battle or home of some important family. Other times it was reminiscences for each other - a town where one of them had got in a fight, or where they’d both got drunk.

For the first time in a long time, Jane felt like she was able to breathe. Thor was alive, and she had a plan and she had _allies_. For that alone she could have kissed them both, and probably cried. Aelsa had been an ally in her one fight, of course, and had seen through Odin even when Jane had denied it, but Sif and Brunnhilde wanted what she did. There was hope.

The mountains they sought were fortunately a distance from the city, although they passed over smaller towns and farms as well as the occasional grander hall. They went largely unnoticed and uncalled after and soon were flying carefully around the mountains.

‘Stay quiet,’ Brunnhilde murmured. ‘This is bilgesnipe territory.’

Jane blinked, and decided to ask later.

‘Oh yes!’ said Sif, in an amused whisper. ‘Didn’t we fight one at the other end of this mountain range, a hundred years or so ago?’

Brunnhilde grinned. ‘That was fun,’ she said. ‘Though if our mission is to remain unnoticed perhaps we should not do so again.’

Sif directed Brunnhilde around the mountains in a whisper, while Jane leaned out, looking around for any sign of movement. Whatever it might be: Loki, a random Asgardian, or a “Bilgesnipe” (whatever that was), she didn’t want to be surprised.

The mountains were quiet, though, and as they touched down at the entrance of a large cave, the only thing off was the smell.

‘Ugh, disgusting,’ said Sif.

‘Is that Bilgesnipe?’ asked Jane, wrinkling her nose.

‘Their rotting larder, I suspect,’ said Brunnhilde. ‘Is this where you found Loki?’

Sif nodded.

They lit torches and began to investigate. It looked for all the world like a normal cave: large at the mouth and narrowing inside. Jane flew forward, faster than the others, and came to the end of it. She swallowed with disappointment. Did that mean this wasn’t the place?

Something shiny caught her eye and she turned. The cave wall glittered, just a little, and she ran her hands along it. The colours shone and danced under her torchlight.

Brunnhilde and Sif appeared at her shoulder. ‘What is it?’ asked Brunnhilde.

Jane leaned back. ‘Is this… is this what the Bifrost is made of?’ she asked.

The two of them frowned and Sif leaned in to rub it with her finger as Jane had done. ‘Maybe,’ she said. ‘Would that explain how this place works as a bridge?’

‘Maybe. Partially,’ said Jane. ‘Or maybe this material is created by the weak spot. I don’t know enough about the Bifrost.’ She looked around to see Brunnhilde investigating the back wall of the cave. ‘I think we have to take it at speed,’ said Jane. ‘We did before.’

Brunnhilde grinned. ‘Oh good,’ she said. ‘This will be fun.’ She considered them. ‘Jane, you’re in front as you’ve a helm.’

‘Right,’ said Jane. ‘Sure.’ She took a breath. She hoped there was nothing else magical Loki had had to do to make it work. ‘Let’s do this.’

They retreated to the entrance of the cave, got back in the chariot and took off again, circling back around until they faced it.

‘You know,’ said Sif conversationally, ‘this is nowhere near the most foolish thing I’ve done for Thor.’

‘If this works, I expect to be given half of Asgard for my trouble,’ said Brunnhilde.

‘I thought you didn’t believe in royalty,’ said Jane.

‘I shall invite my people to decide on their own leadership and then return to my halls,’ said Brunnhilde. She leaned forward to check on her horses. ‘Are we ready?’

‘Remember when we arrive, we need to take note of the place,’ said Jane. ‘If I’m right, and there are these weaknesses throughout the Nine Realms, that’ll be our only way out again.’

‘For Asgard,’ said Sif solemnly.

And they were away. Jane shut her eyes and tried not to scream, grabbing for the other two and pulling them down to shield them, and waiting for the impact and the crush and the weight of the mountain on her bones.

It never came. Instead, a sharp ache descended on her head. She opened her eyes. Familiar black-green rocks towered over her under a grey-green sky.

‘Oh my god,’ she mumbled. Then, remembering her own instruction, she looked back over her shoulder and did her best to memorise the shape of the craggy, dark rocks from which they’d apparently emerged.

‘Did we… do it?’ said Valkyrie.

‘Of course we did,’ said Sif briskly. ‘Did neither of you feel it?’ They both stared at her and she sighed. ‘I am not my brother’s sister for nought, it seems. He has taught me a few things.’

‘Ooh, really?’ said Jane, trying to ignore her head. ‘Do you think he can teach me?’

‘This would be after we rescue Thor, defeat Loki, and avert and further apocalypse caused by a tyrant hunting the Infinity Stones?’ asked Sif sardonically.

‘After the first two,’ said Jane. ‘Depends on how long the third one takes.’

Brunnhilde snorted and directed the horses to descend. ‘We had better not stray too far from where we arrived, for now,’ she said. ‘It would be best to mark out this place.’

Jane shivered and picked up one of the cloaks. This was where they’d come, then, Thor and Loki. Or had it been Thor and Odin, and Loki had attacked them here? She realised with a shock that she didn’t know how long Loki had sat on the throne. It could have been years. It could have been only a month.

But then there was Thor, insisting something was wrong on Asgard and being dismissed by his father. And then Odin ensuring he and Thor made the trip to Svartalfheim alone. Odin who had - and here she swallowed guiltily and tried not to think about how she’d helped - encouraged Thor to go to Earth; who’d let him give up the throne. 

She shook her head and looked up and around. The home of the Aether had not changed. She wondered if it called to Loki as it had done to her, or if all that had gone without Malekith. Maybe the Aether considered Loki its new owner. Maybe it would summon him if ever he lost it, the same way it had called Malekith to it. In the same way it called her...

As the chariot landed, she shuddered and stumbled out of it and onto the uneven black stones of the ground. Her head pounded. She could feel the magic of the world in her ears, in her eyes, in her throat. She shut hers and waved it away and tried to shout but could feel only the blood red of the end of the world. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t see. All there was was burning.

‘Jane! _Jane_!’ 

The voices sounded far away. Jane opened her eyes, saw blood and darkness, and collapsed.

~*~

Water hit her face. She spluttered and struggled and shot upright. ‘What-?’

‘Good to have you back with us,’ said Sif, her face a little paled.

It was dark around them, but it did not feel like the black death of the Svartalfheim.

‘Where are we?’ demanded Jane. ‘Not on Svartalfheim.’ As her eyes adjusted she looked around. They were in another cave, but this one was dark and dank and she could hear water dripping.

‘No,’ said Sif. ‘Not Svartalfheim. We’ve traced Thor.’

‘ _What_?’ Jane jumped upright and grabbed Mjolnir from the chariot. It felt warm and safe in her hands. ‘When? What happened?’

‘After you passed out, we did as we’d discussed and traced Thor’s magic,’ said Sif. ‘We then dragged you to the chariot - fortunately your left Mjolnir in it, or else we’d be stuck - and then followed the trace. Your _hypothesis_ was correct, Jane: we travelled back along the path we’d arrived, although we did not return to Asgard.’

‘You would not be woken on Svartalfheim,’ added Brunnhilde. ‘Are you well?’

‘The Aether may have damaged you more than you realise,’ said Sif cautiously.

‘Yeah,’ agreed Jane, licking her lips. ‘I- I don’t know. I felt it again, just a trace of it. Loki attacked me with it earlier. Maybe… maybe some of it stayed with me. It didn’t want to let go.’ She scrubbed at her arms absent-mindedly and tried not to shiver. Sif pushed bread and a flask into her hands, and she ate, then drank, then coughed violently. The flask contained not the water she’d packed, but mead. The other two smiled slightly at her reaction and Jane scowled at them and now, prepared, took another mouthful. The mead was warming and slowed her thumping heart.

‘Are you ready?’ asked Brunnhilde.

‘Yeah,’ said Jane. ‘Let’s go find Thor.’ She hesitated. ‘Um, where exactly are we?’

‘The realm of Niflheim,’ said Sif. ‘The tunnels beneath the surface. Fortunately we are not too close to Hel.’

‘Ah, yeah, great,’ said Jane. ‘Definite winner there.’

‘Yes, we are indeed fortunate,’ agreed Brunnhilde with amused eyes. ‘Not a day will go past when I don’t reflect on how lucky we are to be in this position.’

Sif looked at them both. ‘Are you both coming?’ she demanded.

Brunnhilde winked at Jane and nudged her arm. Jane tried not to laugh and mostly succeeded as she followed Sif through the caves.

The tunnels were near silent, apart from the small streams of water which ran through them, dripping and trickling and disguising their footsteps, for all the good it did. Jane’s nose itched. She didn’t like this. It was too quiet.

‘Shouldn’t there be guards or something, if Thor is here?’ she hissed.

‘Loki has precious few allies for a task like this,’ said Sif.

‘Surely Thor has more than enough enemies,’ grumbled Brunnhilde. ‘I would have expected to fight off waves of them.’ She adjusted her sword at her belt impatiently. ‘Jane speaks the truth. This is too quiet.’

‘Thor’s enemies would sooner see him dead than play as gaoler,’ said Sif. ‘If Loki wanted him alive and in his control - which he must, or else he’d have killed him - then there are few he would trust.’

‘Few is not zero,’ Jane pointed out.

‘Indeed,’ said Sif, ‘so I suggest you keep Mjolnir close. This is clearly a trap.’

‘Well at least we three are agreed,’ remarked Brunnhilde sarcastically. ‘It _is_ too quiet.’

Jane tightened her grip on Mjolnir as they walked.

At long last, the tunnel ended and they dropped out and into a large, blackened cavern. Water trickled down the sides of it, and high above their heads ice hung in mighty stalactites that even now were melting.

‘It’s very warm for Niflheim,’ remarked Brunnhilde.

‘You don’t think… it’s Thor, do you?’ Sif asked Jane hopefully.

Jane shut her eyes and felt the air, following the warm currents as they danced, feeling the magic on them. If Mjolnir’s powers were a melody then this was just _slightly_ off key. ‘No,’ she said at last. ‘There is something here that warms things, but it’s not Thor’s magic.’

‘Warming magic is not hard,’ said Brunnhilde. ‘Just light a flame that won’t die and already room is warmer.’

‘This must be Loki’s work, then,’ said Sif, and the three of them drew closer, looking up to inspect the cavern properly.

It was unevenly formed, with lumpy ground and walls. There were boulders and smaller rocks and piles of blackened dirt and gravel, with puddles of water or melting ice between them.Other tunnels led off in all directions, at various heights along the cavern walls. All were at least six foot in diameter. Jane considered the nearest one. She thought she could see… She walked closer and studied the rocks around the edge. 

‘Guys, this looks like it’s been forced open by something,’ she said at last.

‘Our day simply keeps improving,’ remarked Brunnhilde, pulling out her sword. ‘Shall we just shout and be done with it?’

‘We might as well,’ said Sif. ‘I tire of waiting for battle.’

‘Uh…’ said Jane, stepping backwards slowly. ‘I… don’t think you need to. I think… I think I saw something moving. Something _big_.’ She backed up to Brunnhilde and Sif. She could hear it now: the drag of rocks along the ground. Something was coming towards them. Something heavy enough that it shifted the stale air in the tunnel and blasted it straight out to them. It smelled of rotting flesh.

The three of them waited for an eternity, braced for a fight.

The head of a huge snake appeared, green and stinking and with bright red eyes, mouth dripping blood and globs of grey-green venom. Its jaws were six feet across and its body not much narrower as it filled the width of the tunnel. Its bright white fangs seemed sharp enough to rip apart even the air. 

It fixed its huge eyes on them as it moved slowly forward, sliding into the cavern.

‘ _Jörmungandr_ ,’ breathed Sif, as all three of them stepped backwards.


	18. Jane Foster and the Chamber of Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane Foster has got enough on her plate, what with being a full time researcher, giving lectures, applying for grants, writing books, and consulting for Stark Industries. When Thor drops off the face of the universe and leaves her on Earth with no clues as to where he is, she doesn’t know what to do or how to find him.
> 
> Then an attack on Stark Industries changes everything, and she finds herself getting thrown into a life that she’s previously only watched from the sidelines, and where getting punched through a wall is suddenly just an average day of the week.

‘Jormun- I thought that was a myth!’ snapped Jane. Thor had assured her Ragnarok was a _story_. She’d asked because she’d worried, and he’d insisted it was a myth, told to and by humans to amuse them.

‘No, it’s real enough,’ said Sif. ‘Though the mortal tales of its origin and future were mere stories.’

‘What did the tales say?’ asked Brunnhilde, as they scrabbled back, as more and more of the snake filled the room. Its eyes held them, but it hadn’t attacked yet.

‘That it’s Loki’s child,’ said Jane.

‘Not quite true. He always had an… affinity for it,’ said Sif. ‘The legends also said it would kill Thor in a battle at the end of the world.’

‘Well it’s a good thing we brought a spare Thor, then,’ remarked Brunnhilde sardonically. ‘Hopefully we’ll confuse it.’

‘Or it’ll decide it wants dinner and dessert,’ muttered Jane, trying to ignore the way her heart was thumping and her entire body wanted to run away, screaming. ‘What do we do?’

‘Do?’ said Sif. ‘Kill it, of course.’

‘Of course,’ echoed Jane faintly.

‘Good fighting, friends,’ said Brunnhilde, clapping them both on the shoulders. ‘If I die, please ensure the tales specify I did _not_ do so for Asgard’s royalty.’

Then she leapt forward. Sif followed. Jane swung Mjolnir and jumped into the air, swerving down to smack the snake in the side of the head as she passed. That only seemed to piss it off, and she flung herself violently out of its way as it lurched for her, hissing. Specks of venom flecked on her arms and she yelped as they instantly stung and scrubbed them off on her cape.

Down below, Sif and Brunnhilde hacked at it, and it ducked its head to attack them. Jane flew down again, this time clocking it on the back of the head. She could have sworn it snarled.

‘Watch out for the venom!’ she yelled. 

She saw Brunnhilde shout a curse, jump on top of the snake, and try to spear it. The cuts seemed to be nothing but a momentary distraction for it, though. Its tail finally appeared in the room and a _flick_ sent Sif and Brunnhilde flying. Jane shouted after them, but Jörmungandr came for her, bearing down, mouth open wide.

Jane threw herself to the side at the last second and its head smashed into the rocky wall where she had been, cracking the rocks and shaking the cave. A stalactite whistled through the air and dropped to Jane’s left, shattering into a thousand pieces on the ground.

Jörmungandr moved again. Before it could dive for Jane, she dove for it, half-flying, half jumping onto the back of its head. Its scales were like jagged rocks under her fingers, cutting her hands easily. 

‘Ow! Shit- what-’ Jörmungandr reared and tossed its head and Jane hung on bodily with one arm, raising her other to batter it with Mjolnir. For all that her hits seemed to annoy it, they made no difference. Soon she, like Sif and Brunnhilde before her, went flying through the air and landed in a pile of stones.

She grunted with pain and levered herself up, searching for her friends.

Sif was on top of it once more, her sword buried between the plates of the scales. Her face was strained with the effort of the attack. Brunnhilde, by contrast, had clambered up the wall of the cave while the snake was distracted. Jörmungandr turned its head towards her, but that seemed to be what she’d wanted. Jane watched, gaping, as Brunnhilde _leapt_ towards it, spear and sword outstretched. It made to snap at her, but she jabbed and slashed and Jörmungandr reared back violently away.

Brunnhilde landed heavily beside it and Jane, seeing its tale swing wildly towards her, jumped back into the battle and blocked the hit with Mjolnir, grunting with effort. Brunnhilde had blood on her, but it was not her own.

‘You got it!’ shouted Jane, eagerly.

‘Well done!’ yelled Sif from atop its back, as the snake flailed. ‘Can you do it again?’

‘Get it’s face! It’s scales are weaker!’ replied Brunnhilde. Then she suddenly swore and ripped off her vambraces. Jane watched as they disintegrated on the ground, curling and blackened and smoking slightly. ‘Watch out for the venom,’ Brunnhilde added, her now free arm had a long stripe of burned skin.

Before they could do anything about it, Jörmungandr turned to them once more.

Jane took off, flying to its face. She could see the red slash between its eyes where Brunnhilde had stabbed it and she grinned. 

‘So you’re not invulnerable, then, buddy,’ she said to it. It hissed. She swooped down as it lashed out for her, spinning Mjolnir and then throwing herself upwards, crashing into its lower jaw. 

The snake still lurched for her, although unsteadily, and she flew backwards and-

‘JANE!’

Its tail struck her again, throwing her backwards with such a force that she hit the wall of the cave before she even knew what had happened. The rocks cracked around her body at the impact, and she felt the shuddering vibrations throughout the cavern. Another stalactite fell to the ground. A few rocks dropped with it.

One large rock hit Jörmungandr and it reared and hissed once more, momentarily distracted. 

Jane peeled herself out of the Thor-sized hole in the wall at last, the wind having returned to her. Her hands were shaking and her arms exhausted. She’d fought a lot of fights. She looked up to the ceiling of the cave and studied the pattern of stalactites, and then the loose-looking boulders.

‘Sif! Brunnhilde! Get out of the cavern!’ she yelled.

And then she swung Mjolnir. 

This time she ignored Jörmungandr. She spun the hammer, picking up speed, feeling the air whipping around her, speed building and electricity crackling. Then she ran and leapt and hit the floor with an almighty _crash_. The rocks beneath her feet cracked open, splitting the floor of the cave, fault lines growing and splintering across the cavern and up the walls and then finally across the ceiling. Rocks and ice began to fall, the sides of the cave crumbling and crashing down. Under the onslaught, Jörmungandr flailed and hissed. It made for her, then changed its mind and made for one of the tunnels, but it was already half buried.

Jane took off and flew, swerving, ducking, heart racing. The snake made a last lurch for her and she dived out of the way, only to be clipped by a boulder the size of a small car and be thrown to the side once more. There, exhausted, legs no longer responding to her directions, she raised Mjolnir over her head, shut her eyes and hoped. Rocks crashed over her head, beating her arms and hands. Sediment and stones buried her legs.

Then, at last, there was silence. 

‘Oh my god,’ she managed. She pulled her hands down to find them bruised and bloody. She looked up and squinted through the slowly settling dust at the state of the place. The top half of the cavern had near-collapsed: on one side it was entirely open to the elements and snowflakes gently drifted down from a darkened sky. The floor, on the other hand, had grown. The piles of rocks and ice and stones heaped up, in some places high above her head.

Jörmungandr was buried and unmoving. Its head was near her feet. Its eyes were closed.

‘Sif! Brunnhilde!’ she yelled.

‘Here!’ came a voice. She could see their heads through as they clambered up a small landslide of stones from one of the tunnels.

‘Oh, thank god,’ she mumbled. 

‘Is it dead?’ called Brunnhilde.

‘I think so. I-’ Jane froze. Jörmungandr’s eye had opened. ‘Oh no, oh no, oh shit…’ She struggled in the stones she was buried under, her legs and arms shaking. 

Slowly, unevenly, the snake’s head rose. It was bloodied and battered, like her, but it was alive, and it could see her, and she could hardly move.

With a hiss that felt like a declaration of victory, it reared its head. Its fangs were still perfect white and sharp. Its breath still stank of rotten flesh, and now the smell of blood hung in the air with it.

Frantically shoving at stones now, trying to get away, move backwards, get _anywhere_ , Jane couldn’t rip her eyes from the snake as it began to descend to her.

She grabbed Mjolnir, pointed it, and poured out all the lightning her body could muster. The snake slowed, but kept coming and she screwed her eyes shut and waited and-

There was a shout, the sound of flesh slicing, and then a crash. Jane opened her eyes, Mjolnir still outstretched, her face white with fear. At her feet, Jörmungandr lay. Sif’s sword in one eye, driven in to the hilt. Brunnhilde’s spear had ripped apart its lower jaw and stabbed right through to its upper. Sparks from her lightning still flew about the metal of the weapons.

Everything was still.

‘Perhaps,’ said Sif, ‘Midgard’s legends should have considered that if Thor had simply attacked the creature with some friends, the end of the world could have been averted.’

‘Oh my god,’ mumbled Jane again.

Brunnhilde and Sif hauled Jane from the stones and to her feet. They looked at each other. All of them were blackened from the dirt and dust. Jane’s arms were bloody. Brunnhilde’s were still burned. Sif too was covered in cuts.

Sif smiled very suddenly. She didn’t smile often, and it was very beautiful to see. ‘Well, we defeated the serpent,’ she said.

Brunnhilde laughed. ‘A pity we can’t carry it back. I’d love to throw it at Loki’s feet.’

‘Oh my god,’ said Jane, this time laughing helplessly. ‘Can you imagine? That would be amazing.’

All three of them clutched each other’s arms for a few moments, grinning and laughing and holding onto each other for dear life, right next to the husk of creature they’d defeated.

Eventually, Sif pulled out a bag of food and attempted to wipe her hands on her pants before giving up and shrugging. ‘Let’s hope this dirt tastes better than it looks,’ she said. They retreated to one of the tunnels to eat, all of them wolfing down their food in no time at all, and then sharing flasks of both water and mead.

Jane leaned back and shut her eyes for a few moments. The cuts in her arms had closed and were healing, and the food warmed her belly and she was _alive_ , and closer to Thor than she’d been in a long time. 

‘I still can’t believe how quickly you guys heal and regain your strength,’ she said at last, opening her eyes and surveying them. ‘Like, don’t get me wrong, I would like to sleep for the next three years, but I actually feel… sort of OK.’

Sif, who was deftly redoing Brunnhilde’s hair, looked up. ‘Does that mean you’re ready to move?’

‘I think so,’ said Jane. ‘Are you?’

‘Just about,’ said Sif, as she secured the leather.

‘After all, we only have an immense series of tunnels to traverse and no idea where to look,’ said Brunnhilde.

‘We’ll find him,’ said Jane.

‘Shall we separate?’ said Sif. ‘It’s riskier, but after our friend back there, I don’t expect many more surprises. If someone was here, they would surely have come running.’

‘Each take a tunnel and meet back in this cave in… three hours?’ suggested Jane, getting to her feet. She was itching to get going. Thor could be anywhere, but they were so damn close.

Once they’d separated and she’d chosen her tunnel (based on which she preferred the smell of), she felt a lot less enthusiastic about the whole splitting-up thing. Jörmungandr might be dead, but it was still dark and creepy and cold, and she had to stoop to stop her helmet scraping the ceiling. Still, on she trudged, through the maze of the tunnels. 

Thor’s sense of direction was magically good: he could feel where he was on the wind, sense the magnetic and magical fields of any world, and remember which path he’d taken with ease. Jane had inherited that thanks to Mjolnir, but even so, the tunnels began to feel like a rabbit warren. She stopped at every junction, shouted for Thor, listened for a reply, and then inevitably just picked the tunnel she wanted when no answer came.

As she travelled on, there were occasionally signs that there had once been some sort of people there. There were metal grilles, or the occasional rusted sword. Jane swallowed and kept going. Whatever or whoever had been there was long-gone. Hopefully not snake-dinner, but who knew. The tunnels were silent, apart from the trickle of water and the stomp of her boots, and the occasional rasp when her helmet hit the ceiling.

Then, suddenly, she felt something on the breeze. Something magical and something… _right_. It matched her magic perfectly. It _was_ her magic. Just over… there.

She broke into a run, trusting Mjolnir and her head and her heart to lead her the way, turning down corridors without thinking. She could feel it. She could feel _him_.

She skidded to a halt beside a metal grille blocking a portion of the tunnel. Behind it she could see colour. Pink skin and yellow-gold hair and she grabbed the grill and _wrenched_ it from the wall. The metal snapped easily in her hands and she tossed it aside like it was nothing and ran forward, skidding to her knees in front of him.

He was on his knees, his arms were chained up behind him, pulled straight above his head. They, and his uncovered chest were covered in livid burns that matched the one Brunnhilde had got from Jörmungandr’s venom. He was pale and too thin and his head hung down, masking his face and a beard grown long and wild with neglect.

‘ _Thor_!’ she managed, his name coming out a strangled whisper.

He looked up. His face was almost gaunt but it split into the most beautiful, wonderful smile as he saw her. ‘Jane,’ he said, and his voice cracked. He leaned forward, straining against the chains, and kissed her, as though _that_ was the most important thing. For a moment, though, she didn’t move, _couldn’t_ move. Even as he kissed her, she found her arms were shaking and tears threatened in her eyes. She’d found him. He was here. He was _alive_.


	19. Bodily Harm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane Foster has got enough on her plate, what with being a full time researcher, giving lectures, applying for grants, writing books, and consulting for Stark Industries. When Thor drops off the face of the universe and leaves her on Earth with no clues as to where he is, she doesn’t know what to do or how to find him.
> 
> Then an attack on Stark Industries changes everything, and she finds herself getting thrown into a life that she’s previously only watched from the sidelines, and where getting punched through a wall is suddenly just an average day of the week.

Jolting back to herself, Jane reached up and snapped the shackles with her hands. Thor collapsed forward on top of her with a groan, but Jane caught him, enveloping in her arms, choking back a sob, and wondering if he’d always been that light. There they sat in silence for some moments while she just clutched him. One of his hands gripped her thigh, but he didn’t seem to have any more energy than that, and she stroked his hair and told him she loved him and then gave up trying not to cry and buried her face in his shoulder. He was dirty and smelled honestly quite disgusting, but she didn’t care.

‘Jane, I love you,’ he mumbled, his voice still struggling.

‘I love you too, so much. And I have some water and some food. You need something. Your voice. I- Thor- I-’ 

‘I’ll heal,’ he said absentmindedly. He reached up to touch her cheeks, running his hands over her face and into her hair, holding her to him, studying her with his bright blue eyes that seemed almost fearful. ‘I missed you.’

She moved him, then. As much as he protested in her arms, he seemed almost helpless to do anything about it. She leaned him against the side of the wall, dug out the flask she carried and her food and pressed it on him. He drank and ate greedily when the food was put in his hands, and she wished she had more to offer him. 

Then she held out Mjolnir to him.

He shook his head.

‘Thor, you need your armour!’ she said.

‘Even if I take it, I’ll be no use in a fight,’ he said stubbornly. ‘I’ll not have the two of us helpless. And Jane, we must leave, there’s a serpent-’

‘It’s OK. We killed it,’ she interrupted. He stared at her. ‘So you can take your damn hammer,’ she finished.

He wouldn’t.

Jane debated forcing it into his hands, but in the end she sighed, pulled off her red cape, and wrapped it around him. ‘Stubborn jackass,’ she muttered angrily under her breath.

He smiled faintly. ‘I missed you every day,’ he said softly. 

‘Ugh don’t do that. You know I can’t stay mad at you,’ she grumbled. He laughed quietly and leaned into her, hard. ‘Come on, we’d better go, or else Sif and Brunnhilde will be wondering where I am.’

‘Brunnhilde?’ said Thor. ‘Valkyrie, you mean? I see we have much to tell each other.’

She helped him to his feet, but his legs nearly collapsed under him, so she hefted his arm around her shoulders, put hers around his waist, and walked them out.

‘See,’ he said. ‘If I took Mjolnir, we wouldn’t be able to go anywhere as you would not be able to lift me.’

‘If you don’t want me to fireman’s lift you all the way back, you’ll cut the cheek,’ she growled. She heard him laugh quietly and she squeezed his waist gently. ‘How did you know it was me?’ she asked at last.

‘Hmm? Oh, when you came in? Your smile. Your smell. The way you said my name. That you carried Mjolnir. How could I not?’ He gave a small shudder in her arms. ‘Loki could never get you right. The smile was always too cruel.’

Jane froze in her path. ‘What?’

‘He visited me,’ said Thor darkly. ‘To gloat. To mock me. To complain about the work involved in rule. As you, as Mother, as Father, as whomsoever he pleased.’ He sighed. ‘He did not get anyone right, although he was the best at Father. I suppose he has had much practice.’

‘Oh, _Thor_ ,’ she mumbled, her own voice breaking a little.

‘Once I know it is him, it is not hard to see his illusions,’ said Thor.

‘He attacked you on Svartalfheim?’ she said.

Thor nodded. ‘I was a fool,’ he said. ‘I knew something was wrong, and when I left you and returned to Asgard I began to realise that the problem was my father. Then I caught glimpses of the edges of his illusions and I realised what had happened.’

‘Wait, you _knew_?’ demanded Jane, voice rising against her will.

‘I sought to surprise him on the Dark World,’ admitted Thor. ‘Instead he surprised me. Perhaps I had been too incautious in my words and he’d worked out I was a threat. But he found the Aether and nearly killed me.’

‘Oh my god, Thor, you can’t just- you- I can’t believe- didn’t you tell _anyone_?’

He smiled grimly. ‘I hoped to ensure no one else suffered,’ he admitted. ‘If we fought on Asgard I knew others would die. I knew too it would hurt his friends and the rest of our family. I see I failed. I am sorry, Jane, that this burden has fallen to you.’

‘Yeah, well, fine, whatever,’ said Jane. ‘I make a pretty good Thor, all things considered. I killed Jörmungandr - admittedly with a bunch of help - and this here is _way_ more than nine steps. You’re still kind of an idiot.’

‘I know,’ he said. ‘I am in your debt, and Lady Sif’s, and Lady Brunnhilde’s, once more.’

‘It’s a good thing I love you,’ said Jane. She turned her head and kissed his cheek as they walked. He smiled at her. ‘Although, gotta say, you’re a lot shorter than I remembered.’

At that, he laughed properly.

Back in the cave, the others hadn’t yet returned, so she used lightning to set a fire in the inside of Jörmungandr’s mouth, wrinkling her nose when Thor said it smelled like barbecue. 

‘You’re so gross,’ she told him. 

‘I’m so _hungry_ ,’ he pointed out.

‘You’re not eating the snake.’ He laughed again and leaned into her arms. Jane sighed happily and stroked his hair into place, glad to just sit with him. ‘How come Mjolnir found me?’ she said.

‘Loki struck it from me, in the fight,’ said Thor, voice muffled by the fact that his face was in her neck. ‘When I realised I could not regain it, and even if I did I could not win, I sent it away. I hoped it would find someone suitable. I confess my hope was not that you would be drawn into this, but now that you are here I am glad of it.’

‘Yeah,’ said Jane thickly. ‘I’m glad I found you.’

Soon enough, Brunnhilde appeared. She greeted Thor with an ‘At last!’, accepted his thanks, and handed over the rest of her food to him. He finished it in the five minutes it took for Sif to reappear from her search. She, unlike Brunnhilde, shouted with joy and rushed over to embrace him. She had to pick him up off the ground to do so, which Thor allowed without complaint.

‘Are you all right?’ she demanded at last, presumably taking in the sight of him properly as she leaned back. He stumbled slightly, and had to be helped back to the ground by Jane and Sif, who now looked even more concerned.

‘I’ll heal,’ he assured her, the same way he had Jane. ‘Have you any food?’

Sif smiled tightly. ‘Well that is a good sign, if nothing else,’ she said, and handed him the rest of hers. Thor made the food vanish as speedily as he had Brunnhilde’s and Jane’s supplies, while Jane filled in the others on what Thor had told her. She thought Sif was going to hit him at one point, when Jane explained he’d found out about Loki and planned to fight him on Svartalfheim. Thor gave another guilty apology, which did not improve Sif’s mood.

‘We’ll fight it out when you no longer look like I could break you with one finger,’ she said irritably. 

‘Of course, Lady,’ he murmured, dropping his eyes

‘So what now?’ asked Brunnhilde at last. ‘We could return to my home to rest and heal for a time?’

‘Or perhaps to Midgard?’ said Sif.

‘I will not put my friends in danger,’ said Thor.

‘But my house is fine?’ remarked Brunnhilde, raising an eyebrow.

‘My apologies, Lady, I did not mean-’

‘I know,’ she said, grinning.

‘How long will it take you to heal?’ asked Jane abruptly. ‘Fully, I mean.’

‘How long until I can fight my brother, you mean?’ said Thor. He considered. ‘Two weeks? Maybe a little less.’

‘Then we can’t wait,’ said Jane. ‘He knows I know. Soon he’ll know we’ve killed Jörmungandr and got Thor. He’s got to know we’re coming for him. The longer he has to prepare, the more likely he is to be able to beat us.’

‘Jane-’ said Thor, but he broke off. 

‘Thor, if you’ve got an argument please say so,’ said Jane. ‘Honestly, I don’t know how we’re going to beat Loki without you. I don’t want to fight him any more than I want you to. If you can tell me I’m wrong, please do. But if we wait two weeks, we don’t know what he’ll do. He might raise an army like the Chitauri. He might tip Thanos the wink and suddenly Midgard’s being attacked. He might just declare war on Midgard or Alfheim or Vanaheim for some trumped up reason just to screw things up.’

‘I know, Beloved, you are right,’ said Thor. ‘I wish you were not, but you are.’

‘Well, we can at least put you in Brunnhilde’s house,’ pointed out Jane. ‘Then if it all goes to hell you can try again in two weeks.’

‘Absolutely not,’ said Thor.

‘Thor-’

‘Jane, I say no now, and that will not change. If you intend to fight then so be it, but if I must rule the people afterwards, then I cannot be elsewhere.’

‘You can’t even walk!’ said Jane.

‘I’m healed enough for that,’ said Thor. He got to his feet slowly. He wobbled.

‘You can’t be serious!’ she said, jumping up. ‘You will get killed!’

‘You plan to go up against a man with the power of an infinity stone and the Odinforce, after wielding Mjolnir for a month,’ said Thor. ‘In all likelihood, we will both be killed, but until that happens, we will both fight.’ He spoke with finality.

‘He’s right, Jane,’ said Sif. ‘If he’s to be our king, he must be there, or else the people will have trouble accepting him, especially when they learn how long Loki has had the throne. It does not instill confidence in his family.’

Jane scowled and folded her arms. ‘Ugh. Asgardians.’

Thor smiled faintly, and took her hand. ‘And now, my friends, we must plan.’


	20. Howl’s Moving Castle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane Foster has got enough on her plate, what with being a full time researcher, giving lectures, applying for grants, writing books, and consulting for Stark Industries. When Thor drops off the face of the universe and leaves her on Earth with no clues as to where he is, she doesn’t know what to do or how to find him.
> 
> Then an attack on Stark Industries changes everything, and she finds herself getting thrown into a life that she’s previously only watched from the sidelines, and where getting punched through a wall is suddenly just an average day of the week.

‘You know this is a really dumb idea,’ Jane muttered to Thor, as they walked through the palace to the throne room. 

The best thing that could be said for their plan was that they’d had an hour to eat and have a power-nap, so all four of them were in the best condition they could be given their various injuries. Jane, Sif and Brunnhilde were almost completely healed, and Thor was at least walking steadily, without assistance, and he’d summoned his armour. 

‘We don’t have any good ideas,’ said Thor mildly.

‘Yeah, no, I don’t mean the whole thing. Which is obviously a dumb idea as well. I mean this bit. The bit where we go in there now.’

Thor hesitated before he spoke again. ‘I have to try, for my people’s sake.’

‘I know, I… I just don’t want you to get your hopes high.’

‘My brother is truly the expert at raising and lowering my hopes,’ replied Thor. His tone was even, but she felt his grip on her hand tighten nonetheless.

They reached the throne room almost surprisingly easily. Thor, of course, knew the exact positions, routes and schedules of the guards, a number of hidden passageways, and corridors that very few other people used. ‘The legacy of a childhood of mischief,’ he’d told Jane with a smile. Still, she considered the fact that they’d only been spotted twice on their journey through the palace to be something of a miracle. Thor, of course, had handled it perfectly when they _were_ seen, reassuring the bewildered guards that Jane had helped him and he wished to surprise his father with the good news.

At the doors to the throne room they paused for a moment, hand in hand. It was still weird to be the same height as him. Jane leaned over and kissed him. ‘I love you, so much,’ she said. ‘Just… take care of yourself.’

‘And you, my Lady Jane,’ he murmured, stroking her cheek and pressing his lips to hers once more. ‘If I could tell you now how much I love you, we would still be here in two weeks’ time when I am healed.’

Jane laughed softly, and squeezed his hand. Then Thor wrapped his arm around her shoulders and leaned on her once more - no sense in letting Loki know he was strong enough to walk - and together they entered the throne room.

It was not precisely crowded, but filled with people. There was Loki, on the throne, his face perfectly Odin but now Jane was looking for it she thought she could see the edges of the magic. He was surrounded by councillors and advisers. There were others, too: petitioners, guards, members of the court. If this was to be a fight then a public unmasking was needed, as they’d all agreed. She just hoped everyone else could get out in time.

As she and Thor walked from the door to the throne, a silence rippled out from them until the whole, huge room was deadly quiet except for their footsteps. Loki watched them approach calmly, the faintest trace of a sneer on his face. Jane gripped Mjolnir with one hand and Thor with the other and stared Loki down, trying to suppress the way her heart was thumping, the way every muscle told her to run, get away, and save herself and Thor. 

There would be no getting away, though, not while Loki ruled Asgard. Thor had no safe haven, and neither did she. Even if she let go of Mjolnir and returned to her life on Midgard and forgot all about Asgard, eventually Loki would remember Thor’s relationship with her and come for her, or if he did not, Thanos would attack the planet.

‘Father,’ said Thor. At that Loki’s eyebrows raised minutely before he got his face under control. ‘I have returned from my quest. I am now ready to take the throne of Asgard.’ That set off a small storm of whispers throughout the room.

Loki had trouble hiding his surprise. ‘You are ready…’ he said, trailing off.

‘It need not be an elaborate process,’ said Thor. ‘I see no need for tonnes of gold to be spent on a coronation. We might even do it now. There would be no fuss. No… _danger_.’

Loki’s face cleared. ‘Ah,’ he said. ‘You would like that, wouldn’t you?’ He stood. He was holding his sceptre. ‘Did you _really_ think it would be that simple? Did you really think I would just _let go_?’ Something in his eyes flashed red and Jane twitched, waiting for the fight she knew would come.

She could hear whispers rising to worried murmurs. ‘Sire-’ began one of the men in the council. 

Loki blasted the sceptre at him and he yelped and leapt out of the way.

‘Very well then,’ said Thor. ‘Brother, I call upon you to relinquish the throne that you have stolen.’

‘Stolen? _Stolen_? You gave it to me!’ sneered Loki. He dropped his mask and became himself. Behind and around her, Jane became aware of the gasps and shouts and footsteps hurrying backwards. Loki seemed uninterested - indifferent - focussing only on Thor and Jane. Jane tried not to let her relief show. They would fight much easier without hostages.

‘It is not rightfully yours, and I will have it back,’ said Thor, voice still steady.

‘Will you fight me for it?’ said Loki. ‘You can’t even stand!’

‘No, but I will name Thor as my Shieldmaiden and Champion, and she will take it from you.’

Jane shoved Thor to the side and jumped away as Loki blasted them both with the sceptre. Thor had told her to be ready, told her to never stop, never wait, always assume an attack was coming. She didn’t even pause as she fell, rolling around and arcing lightning in the direction where Loki had been. He no longer was there, of course, and she threw herself at his new position. 

Mjolnir moved through air, and she hit the ground as the figure of Loki dissolved. Cursing and spinning once more, she shouted in pain as the light from the sceptre crashed into her and burned her.

She threw Mjolnir in front of her. ‘ _Deflect_ ,’ Thor had said. ‘ _You can shield yourself from near anything, including the Aether and the Odinforce._ ’ The light burst around Mjolnir, but no longer touched her and she sighed with relief and scrambled to her feet. 

Loki’s eyes were narrowed and he wielded the sceptre like a stave as she brought Mjolnir down on him, blocking her thrust in a shower of sparks. Even up close, he grinned. Jane reached around with her second hand and punched his face, and he laughed, his eyes flashing red as they pulled away and circled each other.

‘I can barely feel you,’ he hissed. ‘Mjolnir is nothing to me now, do you hear? Nothing! You think now is different? You think you can fight the Aether _now_ any more than you could before?’

‘No, I don’t,’ said Jane.

‘But maybe we can!’ came a voice, and Jane grinned.

Loki turned to see Sif and Brunnhilde, and the small army they’d brought. They had Hogun and Volstagg and Tyr and Tyr’s men, and all were armed. Behind them, too, were more: citizens of Asgard, wielding swords and shields and axes. One or two she even recognised as people who’d run out of the throne room - apparently they’d done that to arm themselves and return to the fray. 

‘Oh really,’ said Loki. ‘You all wish to fight? Well let me see what I can do about that!’

The power of the Aether slammed out of him and into the floor of the throne room, cracking it in two. Jane could feel the way it hit running through her bones and she sucked in a breath. She, Loki and Thor were on one side of the widening crack, while Sif and Brunnhilde and their army on the other, the floor beginning to tip. The palace shuddered around them as the room splintered and the sides of the walls were pulled apart. Jane struggled to stay standing as the floor beneath her feet moved.

Out of the crack in the floor came smoke and heat and sulfur. Out of it too, came shouts and growls and the sound of metal on metal.

‘Maybe you thought I was alone,’ shouted Loki at Sif and Brunnhilde. ‘Maybe you thought I have sat on this throne and prepared nothing. But there are many in the Realms who know the power of the Aether, and who would bow before me because of it.’ He paused to smile coldly once more. ’Well _enjoy_ this, for I know I will!’

Now Jane could see the tops of heads of two fire giants, emerging from the crack in the floor. From around the room, other creatures ran: great lumpy things, like Orcs or Trolls or something. While the fire giants were concentrating on Sif and Brunnhilde and their army, some of the trolls were on her side of the crack in the floor and were beginning to circle her and Loki. Thor, at the side of her battle, picked an axe that had been discarded by someone, and turned to face the nearest troll. Jane bit her tongue as not to shout at him. He couldn’t fight like this! He’d even agreed to sit back!

Jane felt the Aether before it hit her, and threw up Mjolnir to block the blast. Even then it pushed her back several feet across the floor and Loki bore down on her. She kicked for his legs, and suddenly there were thirty- forty- a hundred of him, surrounding her and taunting her. She ducked a hundred sceptres and yelled in pain when one hit home. 

‘ _Only one will ever be solid, Jane,_ ’ Thor had told her. So she swung Mjolnir around herself in a loop until she hit one, and sent it sprawling. The other Lokis vanished.

She got to her feet. One glance left showed her Sif and Brunnhilde fighting a giant, trolls at their feet. A look right and there was Thor, surrounded by several trolls looking worse for wear, but still upright and still holding his axe.

As Loki tried to get to his feet, she threw Mjolnir. It cracked him on the head and returned to her hand. Loki snarled as he jumped up, throwing Odinforce and Aether at her at the same time. Unprepared, she was knocked backwards, yelling in pain and spinning through the air. The Aether surrounded her, cloying and burning. The Odinforce merely burned. Gritting her teeth she raised Mjolnir, called down lightning and forced herself free, then collapsed onto the ground and groaned in pain.

The next thing she knew, Loki stood above her, sceptre at her throat.

‘You dare think you can fight me,’ he sneered. ‘You’re no warrior. You’re a stupid girl, in over her head.’

Jane thought of Pepper, briefly wished for Louboutins, and kicked him in the crotch.

Loki howled in pain and she shoved him backwards and threw Mjolnir at him for good measure. She caught a brief glimpse of Thor giving her a look that was both impressed and slightly fearful.

‘Get back to your fight!’ she yelled at him, as one of the trolls jumped in on him and knocked him to the ground, kicking the axe from his hands and leering. Thor grunted in pain. Jane started towards him but then her a shout from behind her. She spun to see Sif being thrown by one of the fire giants, hair and armour _burning_.

And then Thor shouted in pain again-

And then-

And then Loki seized her throat and lifted her bodily, slamming her against a wall, unfortunately, pinning her legs. ‘I’ve never known such tactics,’ he said, voice lowered, but almost a grin on his face. ‘What a dirty fighter you are. Are you sure you’re _worthy_?’ His words dripped with sarcasm. Jane reached for him but he batted her hands away. ‘You see, you can’t win. My brother is already overcome-’ And she looked to see Thor had not got up. The trolls had his axe. She tried to call, but couldn’t say anything through Loki’s grip. ‘And your pathetic army is not much better. And _you_? You’re nothing.’ He spat on the floor.

Jane rolled up all her fear and blocked out the shouts and screams as the fire giants and trolls ran rampant. Asgard would fight. Asgard would always fight. She had to keep fighting too. She struggled in a breath and-

Loki flew backwards suddenly and fell. An arrow stuck from his chest. She heard more arrows sing through the air and the _thwock_ as they hit their targets. Thor’s trolls backed away from him, two falling to the ground as they were hit. Arrows also hit the fire giants and then swallowed them in ice.

And above, through walls that towered over them, she heard the sound of horses. Aelsa jumped from the roof next to Thor.

‘I see you found him, then!’ she called. She kicked a troll and it went flying.

‘Oh my god,’ said Jane. ‘How did you-?’ Aelsa grinned. Her fighters descended, swarming at the fire giants. Aelsa pointed at Fandral, who’d arrived with them, whooping for glee as he stabbed a troll. ‘Your friend showed up and implied I might owe you a favour.’ Then she turned back to Thor and hauled him to his feet.

Jane felt the Aether move, and she dived, shoving Aelsa and Thor out of the way. It hit her and clawed at her, clung to her. She wanted it to stay. She forced it back.

‘ENOUGH,’ snarled Loki. He stood, holding the sceptre still, but around him blackened clouds had begun to assemble. Aelsa’s arrow protruded from his chest, but he reached up with one hand and tore it out without even a flinch.

The palace walls still standing began to shake and shatter. The ground rocked. Jane stumbled on her feet and ran for Aelsa and Thor, but the Odinforce bit into her back and sent her sprawling. The black clouds surrounded her and Loki, impenetrable, obscuring the world beyond except for the tiniest glimpses. She caught sight of the Elves and Brunnhilde overpowering one of the giants though, and she grinned.

Loki saw it too, but he waved a hand dismissively. Black and red streamed from his face and he laughed. ‘You think I care about them? While I hold the Aether, there will always be those willing to bow. And those that aren’t… they will go. I’ll destroy you, and when I’m done, I’ll rip my brother to pieces!’

Jane snorted. ‘Kill me, maybe,’ she said. ‘But if you wanted Thor dead you’d have done it already. Maybe try hugging it out instead of torture next time.’

Loki’s furious face became uglier. She raised her hands to block his attack and was thrown by the force with which he hit her, hatred and anger spilling out into his magic, through the Odinforce, through the burning redblack that called to her soul and clawed at her body.

She fell backwards. Mjolnir was blasted from her hand.

Instantly, the black barrier closed in on them, separating her from the hammer. Jane pushed backwards, reaching, pulling, grasping for Mjolnir, but it didn’t come. _Shit_. Instead the black smoke licked at her hand and tore at the skin and she shouted with pain. Still she kept reaching: Mjolnir had to be there, had to come to her. How could black smoke be so impenetrable? What had Loki done? Loki strode to her and she kicked out, scrambling to her feet again and reaching out for- He shoved her, threw her to the side and she fell once more. Shit. She needed to get her head back in the game. _She was going to-_ Loki knocked her sideways with the Odinforce and she fell flat on her back. 

He strode up. ‘Now let’s see who you- _WHAT_?’

Jane looked down at herself to see a sight she’d almost forgotten. Her plaid shirt was blue and green. Her jeans had a grass stain on one knee. The laces on her boots were fraying. There was no sign of any armour and she’d lost more than a foot in height. She pushed brown hair back from her face and looked up at Loki, who’d frozen in place at the sight of her and was staring incredulously.

‘I know you’re going to kill me,’ she said, ‘but you probably feel like a bit of an idiot right now.’


	21. Adventures in Human Being

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane Foster has got enough on her plate, what with being a full time researcher, giving lectures, applying for grants, writing books, and consulting for Stark Industries. When Thor drops off the face of the universe and leaves her on Earth with no clues as to where he is, she doesn’t know what to do or how to find him.
> 
> Then an attack on Stark Industries changes everything, and she finds herself getting thrown into a life that she’s previously only watched from the sidelines, and where getting punched through a wall is suddenly just an average day of the week.

The black forcefield surrounding them had dropped slightly in Loki’s shock. She thought she saw Thor. She hoped he was OK.

‘It’s _you_ ,’ Loki said at last, disbelieving. ‘The _mortal_?’

‘I did pretty well from it, didn’t I?’ said Jane. ‘I mean, it’s taken you a long damn time to beat me. Plus I killed your pet snake. And, like, ninety fire giants. I’m not saying I want to die, but I think even by Asgard’s standards I get a pretty cool story told about me.’ She thought maybe she was hysterical. Or possibly being Thor had really messed with her perspective on certain death.

‘You _dare_ confront me?’

‘Uh oh, now you’re mad again,’ she said. She scrambled backwards and struggled to her feet. She wasn’t going to die lying down. She took a deep breath. _Bye, Thor_ , she thought.

And then Loki unleashed all hell on her.

She flew backwards, screaming helplessly. She hadn’t known pain as Thor, not pain like this. Every part of her was ripped to shreds and burning and falling apart and screaming. The floor was a welcome relief. She couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. The Aether surrounded her, enveloped her, held her.

Jane held back.

This was hers. It went on like a familiar cloak. It forced its way into her cells and began to pull them apart but it was _hers_. Through the blinding pain and fear, she opened her eyes. 

She felt the Aether begin to withdraw, called perhaps to Loki. She felt it pull from her like losing one of her limbs and she clutched for it, baring her teeth and gripping broken metal and stonework on the floor so hard it broke the skin on her hands, causing a quick spike of pain that was nothing compared to the Aether itself. It was _hers_. It was staying with her.

Through eyes blurred with tears of pain, she watched the scene, ignored, apart from it. She lay, disregarded. Thor had Mjolnir. Thor had launched himself at Loki. Loki batted him to the side easily with the sceptre, Thor crashing to the ground. He was too weak to fight.

Jane dragged herself to her feet. Each step burned. Every part of her was on fire. 

Loki was fighting Aelsa now. For the first time, he hesitated. He seemed to realise he’d lost some power.

He turned. Aelsa followed his gaze. They both stared at Jane. She managed another step, sending pain like flames shooting up her leg and through her entire body.

‘ _You_ dare confront me, with my own Infinity Stone?’ snarled Jane. ‘It knew me, before it knew you. I am its and it is mine and you- you’ll pay for what you’ve done to Thor.’

Then she felt inside herself - felt for the part she knew about, but had never dared imagine she could wield - and _threw_ herself at Loki, every last atom. The Aether slammed into him - tossed him like a doll. Tossed him like he had done for her. He shouted as he fell and cursed as he hit the ground and still she forced the blackred power in her heart out and onto him until she felt his struggles weaken. When she relented, his only move was to twitch.

Jane staggered over to him. Groaning, at her feet, he made to attack her with the staff. She smacked it away with one hand and the burning force within her sent it skittering across the remainder of the floor until it hit a pile of broken stones.

Loki’s face was white now. He leaned back away from her, almost cowering. Jane could kill him, there and then. It would be so easy. She was strong and she could burn him inside out, break his cells apart at the seams until there was nothing. He deserved it. And she- she wanted to use her power. She could kill him and she could do anything.

_’I can’t kill him,’_ she’d told Thor, back on Niflheim. ‘ _He’s your brother._ ’

‘ _Jane, you must. If you’re to fight, it will be to the death. He will not hold back. Neither can you. Promise me you won’t?’_

She’d promised. And she hadn’t held back. And now, as he cowered before her, she could wipe him out once and for all. 

Jane took a deep, steadying breath. She thought of Thor, and of Darcy, and her mom and Erik and Earth and her research and her life. She didn’t want this, not really. She didn’t have to kill him now. He was defeated. He could go to jail.

At her feet, Loki shifted once more. She punched him in the face, held out her hand for Mjolnir, which jumped into her hand, almost surprising her. How could she be worthy when filled with such dark evil? She didn’t waste time transforming herself though. Instead she just dropped the hammer on top of Loki, pinning him in place. He gaped up at her, disbelief covering his too pale features.

‘Asshole,’ she managed to spit out.

Then she staggered over to Thor.

He was unconscious, but breathing. She grinned at him stupidly. He was breathing and alive and they would be fine. She kissed him. Then she passed out on top of him.

~*~

‘Thor! Jane!’

Jane shrieked as someone dropped a bucket of water on her head. Next to her, Thor leapt upwards. He opened his eyes, took in the sight of Sif holding a bucket (accompanied by Brunnhilde and Aelsa), swore at Sif, and lay back down again on his pile of rubble and closed his eyes again.

‘That cannot be comfortable,’ observed Sif. Her hair was about a foot shorter and uneven, and her armour was dented and covered in yet more ash.

Thor told her exactly where to go without opening his eyes. Jane blinked at him. She’d never heard him be quite so rude.

‘Jane- the Aether-’ that was Brunnhilde. She, too, looked tired and dirty, with a split lip and what looked like a stab wound on one leg.

‘We need to get it out of you,’ said Sif flatly. ‘You know what happened last time. I don’t know how. We should go to Eir.’

At that, Thor opened his eyes and sat up again. ‘What?’ he demanded. Jane had half forgotten he’d been unconscious for that bit.

‘I can get it out,’ said Jane. She pushed wet hair behind her ears and wrung out the bottom of her shirt and glared up at the three women. ‘Did you really have to use the whole bucket?’

‘What do you mean, you can get it out?’ said Sif.

‘What do you mean that you need to?’ said Thor. He looked both furious and worried. She touched his cheek.

‘It… needed me,’ she said slowly. ‘After Malekith died it wanted a… a host? An owner? Somewhere between the two. And it remembered me, I guess. Too bad for your asshole brother that it liked me best.’

Somewhere, twenty feet distant, she heard Loki let out a string of expletives. She guessed that meant she hadn’t inflicted any permanent damage.

‘What was that, buddy?’ she yelled. ‘Because I heard something about you having the shit kicked out of you by a mortal.’ She turned back to the others. ‘Anyway, I can… control it. Mostly. It sort of wants me to take over the universe. No wonder Loki was even more of a megalomaniac than normal. But I should be able to get it out.’

‘Just like that?’ said Brunnhilde.

Jane shrugged. ‘Hey, after the day I’ve had, this seems pretty minor.’

Beside her, Thor laughed, relief writ clear across his features as he surrounded her with his arms and pulled her into a tight hug. She sighed happily and squeezed him back and was sort of relieved to find that he was back to his normal size. Or rather, that she was back to hers. When they released each other, Sif leaned down and pulled Thor to his feet. Aelsa, who still looked ridiculously clean and perfect except for the black eye she’d acquired, reached down for Jane.

With them all stood up, Jane was easily the shortest in the group by a head. Brunnhilde stared down at her. Aelsa suddenly burst out laughing.

‘I could step on you!’ she managed. 

‘Really?’ demanded Jane. Brunnhilde rested an arm on her shoulder with a smirk. ‘Oh, funny, it’s not like nobody’s ever done this before,’ said Jane sarcastically as Brunnhilde grinned. ‘I could tear this realm apart right now and nobody could stop me,’ she pointed out.

‘Forgive me,’ said Aelsa, unconvincingly. ‘Your true form is unexpected. And adorable.’

Jane scowled.

‘If it makes it better,’ said Aelsa, ‘you are still the far prettier Thor.’

Thor’s face flipped from mild amusement to thunderous in an instant.

‘I’ll take it,’ said Jane with a snort. She poked Thor in the middle. ‘What? Can’t I be the pretty one for a change? It’s not every day glamorous princesses like me.’ She grinned at Aelsa, who made a show of kissing her hand, unrepentant.

The group became aware of the others, moving towards them. The first great fault line that Loki had torn in the floor was easily a ten foot gap, but those on the other side of it moved closer, and Fandral hailed them. He was supporting Volstagg, who had an axe in his shoulder. Hogun walked with a limp. Tyr and his men were all bruised, battered and burnt, and so too were those of Aelsa’s forces. 

‘The last of the trolls are down, and the giants are in the lake,’ he called cheerfully. ‘What of Loki?’

Sif and Aelsa pulled Jane and Thor apart, revealing Loki, twenty foot distant, Mjolnir still on his chest.

‘Excellent news!’ said Volstagg. ‘There will be much feasting to be had tonight!’

The groups looked at each other across the fault line in the broken room, momentarily in relieved silence, and suddenly Jane knew what she was going to do. She broke free from Aelsa, staggered over to Odin’s sceptre, picked it up and kneeled down in front of Thor, offering it to him.

‘Your Majesty,’ she said, looking up and catching his eye and winking. ‘As your extremely temporary Champion and Shieldmaiden, I can report the fight is won. The throne is yours. As promised.’

Thor shook his head at her and laughed. Someone from the other side cheered. Then so did someone else. Jane grinned up at Thor. He grabbed her hands, pulled her up and into his arms and kissed her. 

It would have been the perfect fairy-tale moment if he hadn’t nearly collapsed and had to be held up by Sif and Brunnhilde.


	22. The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane Foster has got enough on her plate, what with being a full time researcher, giving lectures, applying for grants, writing books, and consulting for Stark Industries. When Thor drops off the face of the universe and leaves her on Earth with no clues as to where he is, she doesn’t know what to do or how to find him.
> 
> Then an attack on Stark Industries changes everything, and she finds herself getting thrown into a life that she’s previously only watched from the sidelines, and where getting punched through a wall is suddenly just an average day of the week.

A couple of days later, Jane woke to a large, empty bed and grumpily pushed herself from it. She felt almost human again, albeit a bruised and tired human. 

She’d forced out the Aether as soon as she could after the battle, although a little reluctantly. She’d grown weirdly fond of the destructive, murderous burning sensation in a way that she knew was definitely not healthy. She’d promised herself time to study it, although she hadn’t mentioned that to Thor yet. She thought she’d wait for a bit before suggesting it. After getting rid of it, though, she’d slept for about eighteen hours solid. And then she’d been seen by Eir, the Healer, who’d treated her bruises and given her pain-killers and an elixir for dreamless sleep. She’d not shied away from that. Her waking moments were haunted enough by images of the fire giants, and of Jörmungandr, and Loki’s victorious face. She didn’t need that in her dreams.

Dressing hurriedly into Midgardian clothes that Darcy, who was staying on Asgard for a few days, had brought, she shivered in the cool breeze from being out of her blankets. Asgard definitely ran colder than upstate New York. She reached for the cloak Brunnhilde had told her to keep, for all it now dragged on the ground, and draped it about herself before going in search of Thor or Darcy. She didn’t like to be alone yet.

While Loki’s destruction had rendered the palace temporarily unsafe, Thor and Jane (and Darcy, and Aelsa) had moved into Volstagg’s halls. Brunnhilde was staying with Sif, which Thor said was likely the only reason she was still in town. Jane hadn’t realised they had that sort of relationship, but Thor had described it as like friends-with-benefits, Asgard style.

As Jane made her way down and out, she bumped into Hildegund, Volstagg’s wife, who was almost as huge as him. She had with her two of her younger children. They had enough children that Jane had given up telling them apart, although she didn’t admit it.

‘Good morning, dear Lady,’ greeted Hildegund. She was a very welcoming hostess at any time of day and Jane smiled. ‘Will you have breakfast?’

‘Uh, no, thanks, I’m looking for-’

‘His Majesty? In the palace gardens, I’m sure. He left early.’

The palace out of service meant that Thor did his royal business in the gardens. The weather was always clear, of course, when Thor wanted it to be, and they had been largely undamaged in the fight. He was, though, meant to be taking it easy and sleeping longer than he was. Jane frowned and thanked Hildegund and made her way to the gardens.

She found Thor, seated at a bench in front of a large table, papers and books spread in front of him and his councillors dotted around. He was talking to Eir, who stood in front of the table, clearly frustrated. To the side, Darcy was lazing in the sun with Aelsa. Both of them seemed to realise the Asgardian nobles found their presence very off putting, so they spent a lot of time there. Jane did the same, although not for the same reasons: she wanted to be in the same place as Thor, even if he was busy.

‘-understand perfectly,’ Thor was explaining. ‘But I have much to do. I cannot simply stop to-’

‘Perhaps if you wanted to get back to your work, you’d stop arguing with me and do as I say,’ said Eir archly. Jane, who had done as she was told by Eir on the basis that she tried to always trust experts, had never heard anyone address Thor quite like that, much less the calm chief Healer.

He met her gaze though. ‘Lady Eir, I must-’

‘Thor,’ Jane interrupted. Distracted, he beamed at her. ‘What does Eir want you to do?’

‘Ah…’ That got him.

‘Lady Thunder,’ greeted Eir. The title had stuck. Jane didn’t really mind so she let it. It was easier than calling herself “Thor”. ‘His Majesty could use more sleep, and he does not eat enough, and he has not taken his medicine.’

‘Wait, _Thor_ ’s not eaten enough?’ said Jane, incredulous.

‘I’ve been busy,’ complained Thor. She ignored him.

‘He needs to build up his strength again,’ said Eir. ‘He must eat more than he desires or else he’ll run out of healing energy.’

Jane looked at Thor. He coughed and shuffled his papers. ‘Jane, I am not deliberately harming myself,’ he said. ‘Truly, I am busy. Every single decision Loki made as king must be re-evaluated. Everyone he ever spoke to must be reached. All his magic must be traced. That is on top of rebuilding the palace, beginning anew the hunt for the remaining Infinity Stones, not to mention managing Asgard.’

‘Thor,’ she said quietly. She walked over and sat next to him on the bench. He shuffled over gladly and slipped an arm around her, making no attempt to cover his no doubt confidential work, which made some of his councillors silently squirm. ‘Remember when I’ve been working for thirty-six hours straight and haven’t eaten and how you pick me up and drag me to bed?’

‘Ah… yes,’ said Thor.

Jane picked up Mjolnir from beside him and put it on the table meaningfully. ‘Do not try me.’ 

He shifted on his seat and turned to an underling. ‘Perhaps we could get some food,’ he said.

‘Better,’ said Jane. 

Eir nodded in thanks to Jane, obtained a promise from Thor about what time he would sleep, and headed away. Jane leaned into Thor’s arm.

‘It is nice to be worried for,’ said Thor softly. 

‘Well I’m glad you like it,’ said Jane. ‘Because I’ve been doing it a lot and I probably won’t stop, for, like, thirty years.’

He smiled. ‘I look forward to every moment,’ he said. 

Sif and Brunnhilde arrived shortly after food did, and they, as well as Aelsa and Darcy, joined Thor and Jane at the table. All six of them made short work of the food that was brought, even though Jane was keeping a very close eye on Thor.

‘So have you guys figured out a custody arrangement for Mjolnir yet?’ asked Darcy with a grin, as they settled back for some tea.

‘I am so done with being a superhero,’ said Jane. ‘Forever. I have a paper to write.’

‘Dude, weren’t you the most powerful person in the entire universe for like, a couple of hours or something. Aelsa said you had Mjolnir _and_ that Infinity Stone thing. How are you even pretending to be done with it? I know for a fact you’re going to go flying again.’

Jane allowed herself a small smile. ‘Maybe a little bit,’ she said. ‘Besides, I reckon I could take on both Tony and Rhodey in a fight these days.’

Thor laughed. ‘That I would most enjoy watching,’ he said.

‘I’ll have to get Steve’s number so he can watch too,’ said Darcy. ‘He and Sam will be totally up for that.’

Jane grinned more widely and took Thor’s hand to give it a squeeze. She was pretty sure she was definitely going to fly again. ‘Still,’ she said. ‘I miss my data.’

‘Of course you do,’ said Darcy with a roll of her eyes as Thor planted a kiss on her hair.

‘Well I think I might begin to hunt for your Infinity Stones,’ said Aelsa. ‘I worried after we won Kollosi so easily I’d have naught to do. Now you tell me there’s a man seeking to control the universe!’ She grinned. ‘I shall definitely be kept busy.’

‘Brunnhilde and I were discussing the same,’ said Sif. She turned to Thor. ‘You will be remaining here on Asgard, won’t you?’ 

‘Yes, I see no other option,’ said Thor. ‘There must be a king, and it must be me.’ He sighed. Jane kissed the knuckles of the hand she was holding and he gave her a small smile before looking up again. ‘A hunt must be made though. I’m heartened to hear you’d thought to join it, Sif, for I’d thought to ask you.’

‘Naturally,’ she said, with a small smile. ‘Who else?’

‘Well, Brunnhilde,’ said Thor, eyes shining as he clearly suppressed a smile. ‘But I know better than to ask her to do anything for her King.’

Brunnhilde snorted. ‘I will do much for the universe, but nothing for you,’ she said cheerfully.

‘And I am grateful all the same,’ said Thor.

‘What of you, Jane Foster?’ asked Aelsa. ‘Would you not wish to come with us, to the stars?’

‘Oh,’ said Jane, eyes widening. She hadn’t dared dream that this might be an option. ‘Oh fuck.’ She glanced at Thor. He was smiling, although a little sadly. ‘I want to stay here with you,’ she said.

‘No you don’t,’ said Thor. ‘You want to go to the stars.’

‘But _with you_ ,’ she argued. ‘That was part of it. It’s not just space. It’s you.’

He brought her hand to his lips this time, and kissed it. ‘I will find my father,’ he said. ‘I do not believe Loki has killed him any more than he killed me. And then I shall abdicate and join you.’

‘Really? Just like that?’ she demanded.

‘I did it before,’ he said. ‘And now we seek to save the universe together. He will have difficulty arguing with that.’

‘I’m sure he will all the same,’ Jane grumbled.

‘Lady Thunder,’ he said, eyes sparkling.

‘ _Really_?’ said Jane again.

Then Thor turned to the others. ‘Perhaps you would permit me a small moment of privacy with Jane.’ Jane blinked. Darcy wolf-whistled, but grabbed a plate of cakes and gestured for the others to follow her. Jane rolled her eyes and turned back to Thor, who was watching her earnestly.

‘Jane, there is a matter I hoped to discuss,’ he said. ‘I thought- I do not know if you wish for a marriage with me, but if you do, perhaps we should wed before we find my father. Then there’ll be nothing he can do.’

Jane stared. ‘Wait… what?’

Thor hesitated for a second. ‘The marriage of a member of the royal family must typically be approved by the King,’ he said. ‘For now, that is me. If we find my father, it may not be. I do not know that his opinion to you would be unchanged - you have saved us all, after all - but it is a risk. If you would be open to- I should like to discuss marriage. If you are willing.’

‘Um,’ said Jane. ‘Yeah, I mean- I- I don’t know. I think so. I didn’t think-’ She forced herself to stop talking and gripped his hand tightly and leaned up to kiss him. ‘We should discuss it,’ she said. He beamed at her and kissed her again, taking both her hands in his and turning fully towards her. ‘Although frankly from you I expected a way soppier proposal,’ she pointed out with a grin.

‘Well I’m not meant to stand up unnecessarily, much less get down on one knee as is your tradition,’ Thor pointed out. ‘Besides, this was not a true proposal. It is a suggestion. That we should discuss, if you wish. To marry me is complex and filled with sacrifice and would currently see you Queen of Asgard.’

Jane blinked at him. ‘Right, yeah, OK,’ she said slowly. ‘We’ll consider. And discuss.’ She grinned slyly. ‘This is my kind of romance. Just give me some marriage statistics from Asgard so I can model things and you’ve got the perfect proposal.’

Thor laughed. ‘It is not what I would consider romantic,’ he said, his voice a slight grumble. ‘But marriage agreement on Asgard is typically more considered and less spontaneous than on Midgard. I prefer your method.’

‘And I prefer this one,’ said Jane, laughing. Then she hesitated. ‘And I think I’m going to space.’ It felt like a betrayal. She’d been the one complaining he was never around, after all. She hoped he’d understand.

He leaned forward and pressed his forehead to hers. Their noses touched. ‘I know,’ he said. His breath smelled like cake and tea and she smiled. ‘For all that you have papers due and conferences to attend.’

‘Space!’ said Jane. There was really no other argument. 

Thor laughed. ‘I know,’ he said again. He sounded like he did and Jane’s grip on his hands tightened. 

‘I really do love you,’ she said, voice wavering slightly.

‘And I you,’ he said. ‘I will come with you when I can. I hope you will return often with news. Asgard’s policy on visitors from Midgard has rather suddenly loosened up.’

‘I had noticed,’ she remarked, with a slight twitch of her lips. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Darcy offering an earbud from her headphones to Brunnhilde.

Thor grinned and then reached for her hand and wrapped it around Mjolnir’s handle. ‘I have Gungnir,’ he said. ‘And an army. You will take it? _Temporarily_ ,’ he added meaningfully when Jane opened her mouth to object. ‘I would not have you unprotected, for all that you have sworn off superheroics forever.’

‘Are… are you sure?’ She studied Mjolnir carefully. ‘It is yours.’

‘Of course,’ said Thor. ‘When I travel with you once more I will not be quite so generous.’ He gave a slight grin. ‘It is, as Darcy says, a _custody arrangement_.’ Jane swatted his shoulder with her free hand. He laughed, but then his smile became more serious. ‘You have more than earned it.’ He leaned forward and closed the distance between them to kiss her. ‘Besides, he added, pulling back with a slight smirk. ‘I would not have your new friends continually using you as a leaning post.’

‘Ugh. Shut up,’ said Jane. And then she kissed him again to make him.


	23. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane Foster has got enough on her plate, what with being a full time researcher, giving lectures, applying for grants, writing books, and consulting for Stark Industries. When Thor drops off the face of the universe and leaves her on Earth with no clues as to where he is, she doesn’t know what to do or how to find him.
> 
> Then an attack on Stark Industries changes everything, and she finds herself getting thrown into a life that she’s previously only watched from the sidelines, and where getting punched through a wall is suddenly just an average day of the week.

A few months later, Jane touched down on Earth for the first time in what felt like a very long time. She’d seen temples and libraries and nebulae and space stations. She’d tasted food she couldn’t ever have imagined and flown through thunderstorms with rain made of rubies and fought a dragon. And now she was back on Earth. The blue sky and white clouds and green grass seemed almost magical in their own way. 

She was Jane, but she carried Mjolnir in a leather bag at her side. It was a relief to be her normal self again, if she was honest. She was visiting Darcy and the Avengers, and then she was going to Asgard to jump on Thor and lock them both in his bedroom until even he was worn out. Not that he knew that was her plan yet, but she was pretty sure she could persuade him.

She found Tony and Rhodey with Darcy, arguing about the budget of a new training facility.

‘Jane!’ yelled Darcy, seeing her first, and running up and throwing herself into a hug. Jane grunted and staggered and nearly fell over.

‘Careful,’ she said, hugging Darcy back. ‘Yesterday I broke my leg and got stabbed in the lung.’

‘Well you’re looking pretty good for it,’ said Darcy. ‘Come on, tell us your news. Tell us how you got stabbed.’

So Jane did, joining them on the couches and enjoying some real coffee for the first time in what felt like forever, and talking about her adventures and what they’d learned about the stones.

‘Anyway, Aelsa’s gone to Alfheim for a week for some religious celebration thing,’ she said. ‘Sif and Brunnhilde are following up a lead on this space station city, but I thought I’d take some time off. Then I’m going to Alfheim at the end of the week because Aelsa said the feast will be amazing, before we get going again.’

‘Aelsa, of course, is the super attractive elf princess who has the hots for you,’ said Tony, raising an eyebrow.

‘Yup,’ said Jane, grinning. ‘Although she hooked up with someone the other month, so I don’t think she’s pining. But I mean, I am super hot when I’m Thor. It’s pretty awesome. I’m getting way better at dealing with people flirting with me because so many of them do it.’

‘You know your stories are sounding more and more like Thor’s,’ said Tony. 

‘Well I mean, I am sort of Thor when I need to be.’

‘I think he means the ego,’ said Rhodey, grinning.

‘Which is incredibly rich coming from him,’ Darcy pointed out before turning back to Jane. ‘Does you getting “better” mean you no longer stutter and turn bright red by the way?’

‘Most of the time!’ said Jane, who was prepared to count that as a victory. Darcy snickered.

‘Anyway,’ said Tony, standing to reach for some cufflinks. ‘I’ve got to go. Ms Potts will be expecting me.’

‘I thought the shirt looked freshly Febreezed,’ Jane said, grinning. His shirt was immaculate and perfectly tailored and he smelled like expensive cologne.

Tony scowled, opened his mouth, and then thought better of it. ‘You know what, I’m not going to rise to it,’ he said. ‘I’d take Pepper over any number of alien princesses.’ He snapped his fingers, and one of his suits strolled into the room. ‘Anyway, Rhodey, Darce, show Jane our guest, would you? I want to know what she makes of him.’

‘Huh?’ said Jane. 

The suit enveloped Tony, and he flew out of the room.

‘He’s gonna have to stop flying and land to exit the base, isn’t he?’ she asked.

‘Yup,’ said Rhodey, ‘but you know him, he’s a Drama Queen. I’m just glad him and Pepper are getting back on track. I’ve been promised Best Man.’

Darcy snorted. ‘You really think?’ she said.

‘Oh, I’m sure of it,’ said Rhodey. ‘I’m not saying they won’t get divorced afterwards, and probably remarried and re-divorced. But whatever: more weddings means more chances to perfect my best man’s speech.’

Laughing, Jane stood up. ‘Who’s your guest, then?’ she asked.

‘Present from Cap, actually,’ said Rhodey. ‘They found him on the street. He doesn’t remember anything about himself, but Wanda said he’s got huge amounts of magic on him. Cap sent him here with a sarcastic note about Tony wanting to make sure he signed the Accords. So basically, for the past few weeks, we’ve been feeding an angry old man who sits in his room and sulks. I’m starting to think Wanda and Cap are having us on.’

Jane snickered.

‘He’s such a grumpy old jerk,’ said Darcy. ‘You take him dinner and he just snatches it and glares at you. I mean, if I didn’t know who I was I’d like to think I’d be a little bit grateful to the people giving me free food.’

They left the Avengers’ secure area and entered another secure area. There were a couple of armed staff loitering outside.

‘Is he a prisoner?’ asked Jane, frowning.

‘Not exactly,’ said Rhodey. He rubbed the bridge of his nose. ‘Honestly, with the magic Wanda says he’s got, we can’t just let him wander. Anything could happen. He seems happy to just sit where he’s put, though.’

‘ _Angrily_ sit where he’s put,’ corrected Darcy. ‘He’s worse than my granddad ever was.’

Rhodey stopped outside a door and knocked on it. ‘Sir,’ he called. ‘It’s Colonel Rhodes. We’ve got someone to see you. We’re hoping she might be able to help.’

There was a shuffling noise. Jane waited until the door clicked open and then-

‘Holy _fuck_ ,’ she spluttered out. He stared at her through an unrecognising eye, but even as a human - albeit one who’d been slightly… adjusted by exposure to Mjolnir and the Aether - the magic hit her like a wave. Loki’s bonds on top of a huge well of untapped power. ‘I need to take him to Asgard. Right now. And then I need to marry Thor.’

‘Who are you?’ the man demanded, voice rising in annoyance.

‘ _What_?’ yelped Darcy.

‘Darcy, Rhodey, I’d like you to meet Odin Allfather, King of Asgard, Protector of the Nine Realms, and… my future father in law, providing I can get married before he can stop me.’

‘What? I do not know-’ began Odin. Then a sudden blankness appeared in his eyes. Jane wondered how deep Loki’s magic went and grimaced.

‘Well,’ said Darcy. She took Odin’s arm. ‘Lead the way. I’ve had your bachelorette party planned out in detail for the last four years. I’m pretty sure I can pull it off in ten minutes.’

‘You better send for us before you actually get married,’ said Rhodey pointedly.

‘Things might get a bit… complicated,’ said Jane.

Darcy grinned and locked her other arm with Jane. ‘Wouldn’t miss it for all the world. Now let’s go get you secret-married.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who's read and enjoyed and stuck with it until the end! I hope you liked!


End file.
